A little disguised and a little mistaken
by aggie23
Summary: Filled Prompt: "have you ever considered writing a prompt that Will and Emma hated each other and in the end they're in love? Like Pride and Prejudice?". M rated for later chapters. OCC.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is something I had in my mind for quite some time now, but didn´t have the courage to start it until some nice anon suggested it (and many others supported it). This is the prompt left in my ask-box: "have you ever considered writing a prompt that Will and Emma hated each other and in the end they're in love? Like Pride and Prejudice :) if you do, that'll be totally awesome".**

**Just a couple of notes: -the plot will have "pride and prejudice" features and scenes, but I won´t be faithful to the characters and the relationship between them; - OCC, for obvious reasons; - M rated for later chapters; - I´ll try to give the story some sort of interesting twist, but that´s not a promise. ;)**

**Thanks a lot to Becca for helping me with this and for her amazing contribution, which is the tittle!**

**Aggie.**

I

"I´m bringing someone", Shannon´s voice on the speaker seemed far, there was some interference in the communication, making it difficult for Emma to understand her friend.

"Shan, that´s great! But I was kind of hoping to have you all for myself", two years was a long time for two friends to go before seeing each other again.

The woman laughed, "Don´t worry, he´ll be there a couple of days after me"

"'_He_', huh? You´ve caught someone interesting?", Emma smiled.

"What? Hell, no… Will´s not my type; too skinny"

"Uhm, I don´t know if I should believe that…"

"Emma, ya´re being silly"

She giggled, "So, you´ll let me know when you´re here?"

"Yup"

"Do you have a place to stay?"

"My old man´s… the house´s been empty since he died and I´m planning to bring it to life again"

"That´s nice! And means I´ll have you here more often"

"Yup"

"Well, let me know if you need anything"

"Sure, pumpkin"

It was the same old feeling, seeing her old college friend; nothing had changed, they were always those two girls who used to laugh and stay all night discussing wherever subject was in vogue. On her 23rd birthday, Shannon had taken a bus and headed to New York City to try destiny. And it proved to hold amazing things for her, because she got hired in one of the most prestigious health centers in the city. She was now an instructor in body fitness.

Mr. Pillsbury had been happy when his daughter remained by his side; 'some places are not for everybody', he had said, 'and Lima is lucky to have you Emma; people love you and your work'. 'And you won´t find any homeowner in New York; that city is not for raising kids'. In her mother´s expectations, Emma should have married and had her first baby five years ago. That hadn't occurred and it was Mrs. Pillsbury personal Calvary. The redhead never complained about her words, though. Being the town spinster was some sort of taboo, but she cared about other things. Labels were the least of her worries.

"Emma Pillsbury!", Shannon looked revitalized, younger.

"Shan!", hugs and kisses were shared and after the girly compliments, she asked her in.

The house was welcoming. It was unbelievable it looked so neat and homey with just one day of work on it. The colonial porch brought to Emma the memories of her teenage years, where they used to sit and complain about how annoying their parents could be.

"Ya look so beautiful, pumpkin!", Shan said once more.

"Oh no… I just came from work-"

"What´s keeping you so pretty, uh? Or should I ask '_who_'?"

"Have you been talking to my mother?", Emma joked and Shannon busted into laughter.

"No…"

"Ok, don´t get all anxious on me"

"Ok, ok… So let´s assume you look good just for yourself"

"Yes, please", she smiled genuinely, "How long are you staying?"

"I´m thinking about all August"

"Really?", Emma was thrilled, "I´ll have you the whole month?"

"Maybe…" the woman acted interested.

"You know this is Lima, right? There´s not much to do"

She chuckled, "I know but I need a break from New York and I´ve missed you and the guys. It´s really nice to be back"; it was. The air was cleaner; the sky had never looked so blue to her.

"So, tell me about this guest you´re bringing…", Emma´s sassy smile elicited a growl out of Shannon.

"Why do ya keep insisting with that? He´s just a friend-"

"Yeah, I imagine", was her mocking reply.

"You´ll see he´s not my type at all. He´s been kinda stressed out lately, so I offered for him to spend some days in the country"

"Wow, sounds like person who´s never been out of the city", Emma observed curiously.

"Born and raised there. I bet he´ll like it here"

-xx-

A party was thrown days later. Shannon was determinate to bring a piece of the big apple to Lima to cheer Will up. He would be arriving that same night, and everything needed to be perfect. But in the end, nothing worked out right. The catering rang her doorbell late and Will´s flight landed earlier. People were always late in New York, but in Lima when one said 'be at home around 7', everything had to be ready by 6.30 because at five to seven the party would have already started.

Emma was maniacally serving punch when Shannon entered the kitchen; "His flight´s early"

"Oh, do we have to go pick him up?"

"Nah, he´s taking a cab", Emma nodded and handed her a tray, "And I need those extra hands here. Thanks, Em"

"No, prob. Now go, everyone´s asking for you"

The yellow cab parked on Shannon´s street. He could hear the music from the sidewalk and his knit furrowed.

_Country? Really, Shan_?

He sighed and sauntered to the front door, the heavy luggage hanging from his shoulder. What was 'enough clothes'? His friend hadn´t said how long to stay, but judging by the little things he had seen around, Lima looked like a passing through town. The knock on the door was probably missed because no one answered it. So he headed to the backdoor and let himself in.

The kitchen was empty; there was food and drinks everywhere but no sign of his friend. _Shannon, where the hell are you_? It was like she was hearing his call.

"Will!"

"Hey, Shan"

"When did ya get in?"

"Just now. I knocked but no one opened", his voice was tired.

"Probably because of the music"

"Yeah, what is that any way?"

"The guys turned on the stereo", she shrugged her shoulders innocently; Shannon liked country, "How was your flight? Come, I'll show you your room"

They walked upstairs while he spoke, "A real drag, actually; there was this kid next to me… He wouldn't stop talking", Shannon laughed and he chuckled, "Life"

"So, this is it. You have your own bathroom. Make yourself comfortable and we´ll wait for you downstairs".

It took him a while to join everyone. He was exhausted after the last show; but now, luckily he would find the time to relax and sleep eight hours straight. Still, a party wasn´t in his plans for the night. Greeting cheery and festive people didn´t excite him at all. That was why, while downstairs he found a spot near the fire place where he dropped himself; a glass of champagne in one hand, his cellphone in the other. He didn´t realize he was probably a little overdressed in comparison to the men who he met that night; eliciting some prying looks from many of them and the ladies as well.

"Hey, Will…", Shannon´s voice caused his eyes to get off the bright screen, "I want you to meet someone"

"Mm?"

"This is Emma"

She hadn´t had the chance to say 'hi' yet, but definitively had seen him walking down the stairs. He was, even she wouldn´t confess it, really handsome. Standing there, she expected him to get up and shake her hand; in its place his position remained the same.

"Hi, it´s nice to meet you", she said with a smile.

"Hey, it´s nice to meet you too", his eyes went back to the modern device and Emma´s mouth parted slightly.

"Did you have a nice flight?", she tried once more and their eyes met again for the briefest moment.

_She´s sort of pretty_. Red hair and amber eyes; big amber eyes. "Not really"

"Oh…", the host was already gone when she tried to plead her to help her out. _Maybe he´s just tired_, was her rationalization; Shannon´s friends were her friends too, but his attitude deeply discouraged her. She struggled to make conversation flow, to make him feel comfortable; but he sure looked comfortable, most of his answers were monosyllabic; sometimes, only a grimace would be his reply.

_I can´t believe Shannon´s trying to set me up with her_.

And soon Emma was fed up. He was loutish. The way he scanned the people around judgmentally, the lack of eye contact; he was a total snob. "I´m gonna leave you with your…uhm, cell…" she kept the softness of her voice while standing up and marching toward the kitchen.

He was a jerk. She had never met someone so rude in her whole life.

"Hey red, what´s up?", Sue was walking in, carrying a tray and a bunch of used glasses.

"Hey, Sue"; the blonde was a good acquaintance of Emma; co-workers at McKinley High.

"Saw you talking with Shannon´s friend. Will, right?"

"U-hu"

"He sure seems nice", was her ironic comment and Emma couldn´t help a grin from lining her lips, "Why is he here anyway?"

"Don´t know. He wouldn´t say… Maybe he´s tired"

"Whatever you say… Need help with that?"

Conversation wasn´t a regular thing between the two women, but that night it worked. They were different. Sue had attitude, she was sharp and ironic most of the time and Emma… Well, Emma too, but she had more brains than attitude; that last only showed when the occasion deserved it.

"Gonna get some more ice"

"Garage", Sue pointed with a cracker showing out her mouth.

She dried her hands and headed to where all the implements were, hoping to get stuck in the kitchen and not have to deal with Shannon´s guest for the rest of the night.

"C´mon, Will.. ", Shannon´s voice caused her to stop on her tracks, "what´s wrong?"

The crack of the door allowed her to peep inside the studio, where the adults were talking.

"Nothing´s wrong…"

"Ya could at least try to make conversation"

"Sha-"

"Ya know, there were few people willing to talk to ya despite the ogre look you had in your face"

"Sha-", he tried again.

"Emma was the only one nice enough to try and ya scared her away. Why weren´t ya nice to her? She´s my friend, Will", she was too soft with him, but after the terrible year he had had, she indulged his inconsiderate behavior.

"If you´re trying to set me up with her, forget it. You know I'm not looking for a relationship", Shannon intended to protest, but he cut her, "And she´s not that interesting anyway".

Emma´s face flushed red. _I´m not that-_? A step back and she missed her friend´s reply. The garage door opened and she walked in. No one had ever said something like that about her. People liked her. _Why wouldn´t he like her? I tried to be nice. Wait, why do you even care? He´s a complete stranger_. But it miffed her. Deeply.

"Red?", Sue´s voice startled her, "What´s taking you so long?"

"Uhm, nothing", she leaned down to the fridge and grabbed a big bag of ice.

"Something´s wrong?"

"No, no… Just, uhm", she gulped and smiled weakly, "just happen to agree with your opinion about Will"

"ha-ha. What did he say? Or didn´t say?"

"Bullcrap. That´s all", Emma shook her head, like it wasn´t big deal.

"I figured that out"

"Yeah…"

"You look upset"

"I am"

"Forget what he said", uncharacteristically, she wrapped an arm around her slim shoulders, "He´ll be gone soon"

"I hope so"

_So, what do you think? Reviews are lovely! =) By the way, I´m portraying Sue as Emma´s buddy here… thought it would be fun to see a different kind of interaction between them_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two, everybody! Gotta say this is getting a little harder! Haha It´s tough writing Wemma hate and then turning it in to helpless love lol… Hope you find this interesting enough!**

**Reviews are lovely!**

**Aggie**

**II**

Tossing and turning in bed, repeating the same words over and over again, Emma realized it was futile. She wasn´t interesting enough. Ok. She could deal with that, but there was no need for such arrogance.

He was a Broadway star, she got that; he got to hobnob with important personalities, she got that; he had an exciting lifestyle, she got that; they, on the other hand, had a quiet way of life. They didn´t frequent fancy places or shops, but were as good as he. Maybe she wasn´t that interesting next to the women he surrounded himself with, bar she was his friend´s friend, for Christ Sake. He could at least pretend gentleness.

There was a month ahead; and there was no chance she would stop seeing Shannon just because he wasn´t what she expected. She was tenacious when concluding in one simple statement: she would be the nicest woman alive. She would give him no reason to be unkind.

_Maybe he really had a bad day_.

Emma was obstinate when having the will. And she had it.

-xx-

Disinclined to do nothing but lay down during the hot summer months, Emma continued her work at the Community Center. It was a nice escape being surrounded by the few disposed people in town to actually do something constructive.

Occasionally, Shannon would wait for her at the Hall, when she had nothing else to do or Will was too submerged in a book to actually make conversation.

"Why don´t we go out tonight?", the woman asked excitedly, "is Rosalita´s still open?"

"It always is. Sure why not? Girls´ night?"

"I was thinking to ask Will to join us…", Emma´s mouth shaped a small 'o' and Shannon added, "I know he´s acted cold, but he´s actually a very good guy, Emma"

"He must be… he´s your friend, right?", she tried to convince herself with that line.

"A very good friend, yes"

"Ok, yes… ask him to come. He´ll have fun and maybe we can talk more this time"

"Sure thing!"

But she had no idea Will would be somehow reluctant to the idea. He wouldn´t say it, but was still convinced Shannon was up to something. Yes, sure, Emma was cute; maybe too cute and nothing like him. What could they possibly have in common? They were too different individuals, and any kind of relation they could establish would be as superfluous as him continuing with his last show.

However, Shannon dragged him in to the bar that night, claiming he needed the entertainment and some booze.

The place was crowded, just as usual and Shannon was like a little girl in a candy store. She kept many friends in Lima and soon, Rosalita´s was similar to a private party. Couples danced, people gathered near the bar and stools, chatting and laughing. Yet Will stood by the end of the bar, alone, beer in hand, staring at the group in the dance floor.

"Hey", it was Emma´s sweet voice calling his attention.

"Hey", he glanced at her and took a sip of the can, creasing his forehead at the new melody playing. Country wasn´t really his thing and he was lukewarm about the whole situation.

"Having a good time?"

"Yeah, you know…" another sip and then silence. Two strangers joined them and began talking about the music and the funny dancing taking place a few feet away.

Emma watched them and then directed her gaze to Will, "Don´t you dance, Will?", she wasn´t really asking him, but maybe it was a good idea to break the ice.

"Not really"; his nose wrinkled, like feeling sick.

The look on her face told him that wasn´t the right answer, but when he tried to rectify himself she was already sending him a quick smile and replying sharply. "Right… we haven´t folded the dining table to start the square dancing, have we?". Ejection had never felt so sour.

She was fuming as walking as far as she could from there.

"Whoa, Emma!", accidentally she had crushed on Sue, "what´s going on?"

"I can´t believe he´s staying the entire month…", she combed her hair, irritated, "sorry… I- what are you doing here?"

"Just got out the restaurant and saw Shannon riding the mechanic bull", she smirked, "What happened?"

"What could be happening?"

"Will?", Emma nodded, "He´s a real dick isn´t he?"

"Pretty much, yeah"

"Come, I'll buy you a drink. Maybe you can bear with him with some alcohol in your blood"

She couldn't. The more drinks she had the more her tongue loosened and she found herself making coarse impressions of 'The Beverly Hillbillies', faking a southern accent and chewing gum as it was tobacco. _Are we country people, uh? Country people you´ll have_.

"Hey! Don't spit from a movin´ vehicle. Wait till it's stopped!", Emma giggled as holding herself still on the nearby table.

"I think you´ve drank too much", Will said when she drained a full glass right down her throat.

"You still here?", she looked at him incredulously.

"Yes", his hand supported her back, she was swaying.

"Weird… I´m ok", she moved away from him.

"You sure?", she certainly didn´t look ok.

"I´m sure… ", she gulped, trying to look sober.

"Why don´t we go outside for a second?"

"I'll go by myself, thank you", the liquor didn´t prevent her from feeling silly. She wasn´t like that; she didn´t make fun of people and she felt ridiculous. The step before her caused her to trip and Will held her close.

"I´ll walk you"

"I don´t want you to come with me"

"I´ll just walk you out", he pointed taking a few steps forward.

"I´m fine", she said again when the breeze hit her redden face and he deposited on the windowpane.

"Ok, that´s my cue. Take a cab home", he advised wisely before going back in, not even looking at her.

-xx-

At the end of the day her plan attested to be an absolute failure. Not only she had deserted it at the first opportunity she had had, but also he made it extremely difficult not do so.

Tolerating his bad temper, his lack of social skills, his mean comments about her lifestyle was like swallowing nails for her. But she suspected, no, she was sure she would explode someday soon and needed a reason to do so. Resorting to her niceness despite his rudeness would work. And so it did.

"Bye, Miss P!", a young girl with a seven month belly greeted Emma as they sat on a bench in the Park.

"Bye, Sam!", she waved her hand at her, "See you on Wednesday!"

"That girl has no future", Will murmured more to himself than for the two women next to him.

"Excuse me?" Emma´s face turned to him, he was unshakable and said nothing, "Maybe she has no future because no one expects anything from her"

"No, I'm pretty sure she has no future because her pants came off a little too soon"

"What? You have no idea what you´re talking about", she was fuming and Shannon budged uncomfortable on the edge of the seat.

"Don´t you think you´re being a little naïve?", his elbow rested on the back, "What kind of future does a girl in her condition could have?"

"The same future as anybody else", it was hard listening to all that pessimism together.

"Really? Can you honestly tell me she´ll be in college next year?"

"I hope so"

"Hoping isn´t really a guarantee"

"Neither is what you´re doing right now. If that girl doesn´t get in to college it´s not going to be because she doesn´t want it"

"Really?", there it was again; that arrogance Emma disliked intensely.

"No; it´s going to be because society, people like you, don´t give her the chance".

He looked at her for a moment, taking her words in; she seemed outraged but he didn´t agree with her. He knew that girl would be nothing but a single mom, living with a pension or something like that. It was disheartening. "Tell me how that works next year. She´ll be working double shifts to pay the rent and buy dippers"

"You… you´re very confused, Will. About everything"; his glumness was really dispiriting; he was a sad, a sad man. And spread that horrible feeling all around him; she hoped he did it unconsciously.

"Hey, calm down guys…", Shannon had no idea what to say.

"I think I'm gonna get home, Shan. I´m a little tired". Tiredness was the last thing affecting her, but his words had left a bittersweet taste on her mouth. He exhausted her.

He remained silent, regretting upsetting her that much; but he had spoken with his mind. Maybe she took everything too personal. Or maybe he did.

"Are ya sure, hun?"

"Yes", she grabbed her purse, "Bye"

"I´ll call you"

"Sure"

"Great job, Will", Shannon snapped when her friend was gone.

"What?"

"She works with that girl"

"So?", he didn´t understand.

"_So_? Are ya serious? Ya practically said her work was hopeless"

He gulped and lowered his gape; maybe he should learn how to keep his mouth shut for a change. "Had no idea"

"Yeah, I know. Why don´t you even try gettin´ along with her?"

"Even if I did she would blow me off"

"Yes, because ya gave her a hell of a good impression"

"Let it go, Shan… I'll be gone by the end of the month and never see her again"

Occasionally, Will would go for a run, giving Emma the chance to spend some time alone with her friend. It was a real bother, though, keeping track of the minutes she had left until he was back home. The same spectacle would happen every time. He would walk in the kitchen, his shirt sweated, he would say 'hi' and Emma would stand up, saying it was late and had a group session to plan. Neither of them would buy that lie, but he wouldn´t insist for her to stay; the forced smile she displayed every time, told him she couldn´t stand him. And he was the only one responsible for that. But she wasn´t what one could call a charm either. She was sweet and subtle at first, now she openly showed how little she wanted to be related to him, in any way. And he hadn´t gone to Lima to watch a free display of hate.


	3. Chapter 3

**III**

Shannon´s co-worker, Carl Howell, landed in Lima in the middle of August. Unlike Will´s arrival, it was fun and warm; the knock on the front door, announced he was already there.

"That´s probably Carl", Shannon announced getting up and walking to the entrance.

"Carl?"

"He´s stayin´ for couple of days"

"Oh…" she wasn´t sure if another of her friends would be a good idea, Will hadn´t been exactly the picture of a 'good guy' she had been expecting.

"Hey, nice to meet you", Carl, dark haired, blue eyed, bright white smiling Carl said.

"Hi, it´s nice to meet you too", she shook his hand, friendly.

"Didn´t know Shannon had such pretty friends", he winked at Shannon, who rolled her eyes.

"That´s the cheesiest line ever"

"I know"

Emma laughed, "Do you want some coffee?"

"Coffee sounds great"

They talked the rest of the afternoon; proof that Carl resembled Will as much as a hippo resembled a giraffe. He was kind, affable and funny. Unlike Will, who looked reserved and cocky 24/7.

"Will´s on his way", Shannon let Emma know in a whisper around six, knowing her two friends weren´t exactly fond of each other.

"Oh… I should be going now then", she announced when Carl came back from the living.

"So early?"

"Yeah… work tomorrow"

"Oh, sorry- Maybe we´ll see you again soon?"

"Sure", he opened the front door for her, "It was really nice to me-"

"Hey". Will was standing outside, his hand about to ring the bell. His shirt soaking wet.

"Hi", their eyes met for the shortest second; and then an awkward silence settled.

"Carl"

"Will, hey"

Another uncomfortable silence when the two men stared at each other.

"I should, uhm, go", she looked at them, a hint of curiosity casting her features as she passed by Will.

"Bye", he whispered softly before she left.

Emma met Carl the next day for a cup of coffee; and several more times during his visit. His company was pleasant. And she needed pleasant after the dreadful days she had been putting herself through. Conversation flowed easily; Carl was charismatic, interested about everything she had to say and a very attractive man. Emma knew she shouldn´t, but couldn´t help to compare him with Will. _Why would you do that_? If things made no sense by then, they made less sense now.

"Maybe I'll move to L.A by the end of the year"

"Really?"

"Yup. You know, where Shan and I work?" she nodded, "There´s a subsidiary there and I like sunny weather more. So I applied to be transferred"

"That´s great!"

"Yeah. I´m tired of New York… Been there all my life"

"You've know Will since forever, uh?" _Why are you even mentioning him_?

"Uh, yup. We were friends in college"

"Were friends…? Sorry…" she added seeing him toy with the plastic spoon, "didn´t mean to snoop"; but she wouldn't deny that the strange interaction between the two men had bugged her. A few occasions Will had crossed their path and the situation had been nothing but uncomfortable each time.

"It´s ok, I don´t mind. I used to date his sister"

"Oh..."

"And we broke up eventually. Not every relationship works… and he went mad; said some ugly things I won´t even repeat in front of you… And that´s when I decided it was better to put some distance between us", they weren´t really close, so she wasn´t expecting him to tell her everything.

"Makes sense… I bet you weren´t expecting to see him here, uh?" an apologetic grin crossed her lips.

"To be honest I thought he´d be gone by now…"

"He´s staying all month"

"Then I guess I´ll leave earlier. Not that I have any reason, but I´d rather save Shan the troubles"

"That´s very nice of you", Emma wasn´t a judgmental woman; but she had her reservations about Will, and now she thought he was not only rude, but also weird. Now she was certain the guy had some serious relational issues.

-xx-

Once in a while, Emma wondered how the living at Shannon´s would be. Unmistakably the two men had had some rough times and their relationship wasn´t what one could call congenial. Rather the opposite. On only one occasion, they had shared the same room for more than a straight hour and it had been torture, for Emma and for Shannon.

They wouldn´t talk to each other; Will´s eyes would be clouded, more sullen than usual, he would chew whatever thing was near to avoid cursing at Carl. Emma didn´t understand him. He was hamming up the whole situation.

"Are you ok?" regardless he had acted pretty nasty toward her, she couldn´t help to ask; his jaw was practically dislocated.

"Never better", was his ironic response swallowing a particular big piece of carrot; he choked, and began coughing and turning red.

"Oh Jesus!" Emma whacked his back, hard; but nothing happened. Quickly, she positioned behind him and wrapped her arms around his belly, just between his sternum and navel to perform the Heimlich maneuver. Three firm presses and the carrot flew out his mouth. Will coughed more, feeling his throat sore, "Are you ok?"

He brought his hand to his mouth, still coughing and swallowed. Her eyes wide as ever, concern casting her gape. _You just saved my life_.

"What the hell´s going on?" Carl and Shannon ran to them.

"Emma, what happened?" Carl intercepted, placing his palm on her shoulder.

"Uhm, Will choked"

"Are ya ok, buddy?" Shannon went to him; Emma´s gaze fixed on him, Carl smiling at her. He just wanted to get the hell out of there.

"I´m fine!" he spoke in an annoyed tone.

"He doesn´t look that fine", Emma whispered worried when he was walking out, not even saying 'thank you'.

"He´s a big boy, he can take care of himself", Carl pointed and Emma let out a slight giggle.

He was a big boy; a bad mannered boy and she questioned herself as to why was she even letting him get to her. Her head shook, dismissing the previous events; obviously not even saving his life was worth a little recognition. That was it; if she was still trying him to get him like her, that afternoon all her efforts ceased; for good.

-xx-

Carl left, eventually; he had gotten a call from New York for an interview with the manager of the company, apparently his transfer to L.A was about to come true.

"Maybe you can come this weekend…" Emma invited with a smile, "Shannon´s organizing this party… there´s no reason for one, but you know her…"

"I´ll come if you promise a dance", he flirted unmistakably.

"Ok, then it´s a deal", she offered one last smile before he got in the car and headed down the road.

In the backyard it was Will, quiet, as always; writing an e-mail for someone, Emma didn´t care. His eyes followed her tracks; she sensed it, feeling slightly awkward, and let herself rest on the hammock a few feet from him.

For the first time since he had got there, he spoke, "You´re getting along with him"

She noticed Carl´s name wasn´t mentioned, and even thought there were more than two questions formulating; her answer was plain, "yes"

He nodded, and continued with the previously abandoned e-mail, "He´s coming back?" he asked again.

"Maybe", she wasn´t playing smart, she really didn´t know if Carl would be there; but she really hoped so.

"Right"; he was aware her attitude toward him had logic basis; he hadn´t been a sweetheart, really, but Carl being in the house gotten on his nerves.

"Do you know where´s Shannon's party is gonna be?" he tried once more but her reply was taunting.

"Why? To take your own music?" a playful smirk lined her lips and he couldn't tell if she was actually mocking him or trying to pick a fight. He didn´t answer, only lowered his gape to the screen, unsure how to reply and she spoke again, "It´s in this nice place downtown…"

Emma didn´t seem to notice but he was staring at her while her leg swung off the hammock, "Do you…" her rosy face turned to him, the sun was burning her cheeks, "You should put some sunscreen on".

She sighed, "I´m fine"

-xx-

"Dammit!" the bottom of paper bag split in two on her way out the store. "What kind of bag is this?" she fell on her knees, collecting the scattered items. She huffed when noticing the dented cans and bruised peaches.

"Need help with that?" Will´s voice caused her to lift her head. He had seen her from across the street, it seemed wrong to leave her alone with all that stuff; plus she would probably see him soon and then she´d say he was worse than she thought.

"It´s ok, don´t worry", her hands moved hastily to every item around her, "I´ll take a cab"

"You live a few blocks from here", he pointed kneeling down and helping her out, "I´m on my way to Shan´s. I don´t mind"

"As you please", she stood up, trying to juggle the four bags in her short arms.

"You´ll drop another one"

"I didn´t drop it; it broke", he seemed to annoy her painlessly; at least he could have smiled and pretend to want to help her; but his grimness and detached voice only told her he was doing it because he _had_ to.

Carefully he took three bags out her grip, and walked by her side, "It´s not too far is it?"

"Just three more blocks", she said after walking in silence for most of the way. "Can I ask you a something?"

"Do I have a choice?" she missed the grin crossing his lips when closing his eyes to calm down, "What do you do for the living?" she had noticed some women looking at him at the store, and wondered why. Even though they had reasons; he was _really_ attractive. His looks even caught her attention, but still.

"I perform"

"You perform what?"

"I work in Broadway"

_That explains the looks_; maybe those women know who he was; she, on the other hand, had no idea, "Oh, that explains it all…"

"Explains what?"

"Why you´re the way you are", she simply put.

"How am I?"

She cocked an eyebrow at him, like the answer was evident, "Well, you don´t socialize too much", _maybe the stardom has gone too your head_.

Her words were subtle, but he wasn´t stupid; he knew their meaning, "Let's say I´m always with people and most of them usually want something from me"

"What could I possibly want from you? I just found out who you are and what you do" she laughed slightly.

"I just told you"

"You could have told me you were a porn actor and it´d have been the same to me", she didn´t mean to compare unfavorably his job with others. "It´s here", they stopped on the sidewalk.

Ignoring her last comment, he walked to her door, "Are you going to open the door so I can leave these inside?"

She did and he entered shyly to the living. It was really cozy, a little small, but still pretty. He was only inside for thirty seconds before muttering a low 'see you' and walking out.

_Sort of a filling chapter, I know… I really dislike Carl in scene, but it´s necessary. He´ll be gone soon, I promise. lol _

_Getting back on track with the next chapter! Reviews are lovely!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Don´t think I´ve properly thanked Becc for helping me with this!**

**Aggie**

**IV**

They often strolled around the Park, but that occasion Shannon insisted to take Will for a ride near the lake. He enjoyed calmness, despite living in such a frenzied city like New York, and appreciated his friends invitation. A nice afternoon with only birds chirping would be nice.

The soft meadow caressed his body and Emma´s hum reached his senses. The hat´s brim masked her eyes, but she was smiling, submerged in an old magazine she had found in Will´s car.

"Ya sure you don´t wanna dip your foot in the water? It´s nice!" Shannon asked excited coming back from the shore.

Emma giggled, "I rather not… I'd like to get inside but didn´t bring my bathing suit"

"Will?"

"Mmm?" he raised his gape, although his eyes had been settled on the two women talking.

"Wanna get in?"

"Sorry, Shan; didn´t bring a change of clothes"

"What´s wrong with you two?" she teased them sitting by his side, "Come to the lake and bring no towels, no nothing?"

"I kinda like here", he mentioned looking around, "It´s quiet"

It was until Emma´s cell buzzed.

She blushed, "Sorry…" and got up and took some distance to take the call, "Sam?" her voice was still audible, "Sam, what´s wrong? Calm down, I can´t unders- _What_? I´ll be right there. Don´t move", as quickly as she has left, she returned, "I have to go"

"What happened?" her friend asked seeing the stressed look on her face.

"Sam´s in labor"

"but she´s not-"

"Due, I know", swiftly she collected her things.

"Where are her parents?" Will´s voice was confused; _why is she calling her_?

"Out of town" she slid her sandals back on and seeing he wasn´t offering a thing, Emma asked rather forcefully, "Can you give me a lift?"

"Y-Yeah, Shan you coming?"

"Of course"

"Can you please hurry up?" she had been nervously bouncing in her seat since the moment they had left the lake.

"We´ll crash if I go faster", he said sensibly, but Emma´s nerves were wrecking.

He pulled his car in Sam´s garage and the redhead rushed to the entrance. It was locked. "Shit… Sam!" she hit the doorknob, but there was no reply. And then a whine came from the inside. "Sam, Are you there?" another whimper and Emma panicked, "Shan call 911".

"Locked?"

"Yes"

He moved the handle, but it didn´t give in.

"Kick it down"

"I won´t kick the door down"

"Kick it, Will!"

"Move…" he wouldn´t kick the front door, but instead directed to the window on the right. He slide the pane and it opened, "Can you crawl insi-", her butt was already in the air; a thump on the floor and the door finally unlocked.

There was blood and Sam was curled on the couch.

"Holy shit…" Shannon rushed to where Emma was, kneeling by the girl, trying to sit her up straight.

"I don´t know what happened", she was crying and writhing, the contractions were painful; she was a mess.

"Sit down", Will´s commandant voice caused Emma to turn her face to him with horror, "put your legs on the coffee table to release the pressure"

"She´s in labor Emma, the ambulance is not coming right away", Shannon whispered.

"Sam, sweetie, can you get up?"

"No…"

"Sam, listen to me", she held her shoulders still, "We need to get you to the Hospital; now".

"I´ll carry her", Emma thanked God for Shannon´s grit, because Will was standing there, petrified. Finally, he managed to follow them outside.

"Will, open the door", Emma ordered not quite smoothly; his hand hesitated for a moment before Emma´s scream, "OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR, WILL!", Shannon deposited the girl in the back seat, "God, what´s wrong with you?", a door shutting and the other woman was in the passenger seat; her body partially leaning out the backdoor, "Are you coming or what?".

He drove, his eyes peeping through the rear-view mirror; the redhead was stoking Sam´s forehead, whispering things he couldn´t catch.

"Please, _please_ hurry up, Will", her begging eyes, her voice cracking cause his foot to step on the accelerator.

She had no idea how dilated the girl was, or even if the baby was alive.

Emma pushed the wheelchair across the hallway, the two other adults following behind. The doctor who took Sam wouldn´t let her go in the room with her.

"You´re not related", he said

"She´s all alone in there! Her family isn´t here!" blood covered her hands, her face was contorted in anger, desperation and fear, "Listen to me, if something happens to that girl I´m personally coming here and beating the crap out of you! She´s scared! Let me in"

Will was, not to say the least, impressed. She was tempestuous, like a Valkyrie; and he was certain she would punch the doctor and go inside the room in any minute.

"Please, let her in. She´s responsible for the kid", he intervened softly taking a step forward and Emma looked at him, "She can´t do anything here, except freak out"

The man sighed, "Ok, but if you-"

She was already passing by his side. Twenty minutes later, she returned to the waiting room, hands clean, stiff faced.

"She´ll be fine", he muttered trying to calm her down.

"You don´t know that"

"I hope so"

She scrutinized him, a curious expression on his face, "She´s going to surgery"

"Is the baby ok?"

"There´s blood in the amniotic fluid"

He needed fresh air; hospitals weren't exactly his favorite place to be and he came back a few minutes later, with three cups of coffee.

"Here", he brushed her arm with the carton cup and Emma´s face turned to him before grabbing the cup without saying a word. He watched her for a while, her messy hair, her slim body dressed in a yellow summer dress, contrasting with the white walls. He hadn´t noticed until now how beautiful she really was.

She sent him a fuming look when catching his eyes settled on her, but he didn´t divert them. "You can leave now", she sentenced after trying to read his expression and failing miserably. His knit was low, his eyes dark; he seemed deeply upset.

"How will you go home?"

"I´ll take a cab"

"We´re not leavin´ Emma", Shannon spoke for both and Will looked at her. He didn´t want to leave her alone, but bearing her attacks didn´t encourage him stay either. The woman walked to her, and whispered rubbing her arm lovingly, "We´re stayin´"

"You don´t have to, Shan… He really wants to leave", it was more an accusation than an understanding statement, "Don´t make him witness how Sam´s future goes to the trash"; she said lowly remembering the little argument days ago.

Her line didn´t come unnoticed for Will and he stood up, ready to reply. But what was the point, really? His fingers run through his hair and for the second time in an hour, he went outside. And didn´t come back.

He was probably gone by now, and Emma followed his tracks to breathe some clean, hospital-free air. She wasn´t expecting to see him sitting on the entrance steps, "You can go", she said once more.

"Shannon wants to stay"

"Shannon can share a cab with me. And you obviously want to leave", she really had no idea what was going on inside his head, "And to be honest, your upset face makes me terribly anxious"

"Listen", he snapped turning abruptly to look at her, "I didn´t ask for any of this"; the whole situation brought disturbing flashbacks to his mind and his voice was tinted with that characteristic pain Emma knew so well, but decided to ignore.

"Then go. Seriously, you´ve done enough, sitting a bleeding girl on the back seat of your car"

Those were the last words she spoke to him before spinning in place and going back in the Hospital. He stayed though but drove her back home without a word.

Still his opinion about her had changed; something about her had marveled him.

_Saw what i just did there? ;)_


	5. Chapter 5

**Sort of intense chapter... **

**V**

The rest of the week was a total disaster.

Since Sam´s episode, she had delayed work; Shannon and Will had been stopping at the Community Center to take her some doughnuts and they stayed during her recess. It wasn´t that she didn´t appreciate the gesture, but as much as she tried to like Will, she couldn´t. Everything seemed faked with him and she was certain Shannon had dragged him there to make him look good. It didn´t work; if he had any intention to vindicate himself for being an arrogant arse, Emma never noticed it.

"So, here´s where you work", he looked around while Shannon took a call outside; his eyes studying every single corner of the room.

"U-hu", she noticed the way he evaluated the peeled off paint in the ceiling angles, the old radiator, the washed out tiles. He said nothing, a fact that Emma was thankful for; she was expecting some sort of squandering comment about her workplace. She didn´t chop her words, "Nothing like yours, uh?"

"Definitively not", the span was somehow demoralizing; it made him understand the negligence some people were subjugated to and how significant her work was. He found himself realizing how little he knew, how encapsulated he was in the perfect bubble of New York stages. And then he remembered Sam, how amazing she had been back then and wondered if she took all those troubles with all the people she work with. "It´s-"

Emma snorted, "Listen I´m sort of busy; I have to go"; he was constantly blundering and not making it any better.

-xx-

Carl didn´t show up, fact Emma lamented because it was nice talking to him; he would have certainly made Saturday evening better.

Strangely, that night Sue was in the pub as well. It was bizarre in a point; Emma had never imagined Sue going for a drink with her buddies, but the two women had grown closer, despite their differences. Sitting at the bar, Sue joked about Will´s hair, pleading he had probably applied more than a bottle of conditioner that occasion.

Emma giggled, "Let´s talk about something else, please. Don´t call his name or he´ll be here in any minute"

After a while and two Manhattans later, Emma´s name was pronounced and she turned around.

"Wanna dance?" was Will's question while standing near her.

"Uh, yes", placing the glass on the wooden surface, she looked at Sue, feeling sort of possessed for accepting his invitation. She span to face him, but the only thing that she could see was his back, walking to the dance floor. "Did I just say _yes_?"

"I believe you did", Sue smirked scornfully, "make sure not to touch his hair, unless you´re looking for some extra moisturizing for your hands"

She giggled, "Be right back". For a second she was thankful it was a slow song playing; moving with some awkward rhythm like 'the thong song' wasn´t too appealing. She sent him a brief, obligated smile and he took her hand, bringing her closer to wrap his free arm around her waist. Emma pursed her lips and they swayed with the music. Neither of them speaking, not even looking at each other. _Why would he ask me to dance_? This make absolutely no sense and Emma began to think he was doing all that on purpose, to make her feel uneasy. She sighed and drummed her fingers on his shoulder, signaling her boredom. "You know, people use to talk while dancing"

"So I have to talk?"

Her eyebrows rose so high, they nearly touch her hairline. "I don´t know… do whatever you want", she was tired of him but instead of following reason, she followed instinct, "Why did you even ask me to dance?"

"You asked me to dance the other day"

"I didn´t ask you to dance. I asked if you danced"

"And I said no"

She just wanted to step on him. "And now you´re dancing. Why?"

"Well, people dance in the clubs", his shoulders shrugged innocently.

She cocked an eyebrow at him, clearly annoyed, "I didn´t know you followed social conventions"

He creased his brow, staring at her; into her mockery eyes. "I live in society", was his lame reply and Emma´s expression changed to sarcastic indulgent, "What?"

"Nothing"

"No, what?" unconsciously, his grip tightened around her waist and their bellies pressed together. She was skinny and really small. He noticed it when his palm´s hold didn´t come loose.

"I was wondering how´s that working out for you"

"Meaning?" the irony in her voice came unnoticed.

"You know… I understand people and I´ve been trying to understand you", it wasn't the pretended polite conversation anymore.

"Found out something?" he spun her around; her dress rustled and he sensed her. Jasmines. She smelled like jasmines. Sweet jasmines.

"Absolutely nothing", he didn´t speak, "Why are you even here? You don´t like it here. You´re rude and impolite towards everybody"

"Excuse me for not living up to your expectations", he didn´t like her tone. He had thought she would be ok with dancing with him, like it would be some sort of 'reconciliation' for the past days, but she was shooting daggers.

"That awkward moment when I though you couldn´t be ruder…"

"Ok, that came out wrong"; it had. He wasn´t usually that vicious and her eyes were wide as ever. "You have big eyes"

"What is that supposed to mean?", it was like talking to some sort of social handicapped; he had no tact whatsoever and Emma bent back, looking at him straight in his eyes; he contemplated her confused, exasperated expression and realized how beautiful she was. The makeup, the hair, her slim shoulders; he realized he couldn´t take his eyes off her, "Is that a compliment, an insult, an observation…?"

"Just sayin´. You have big eyes"; she had curls too, cascading her shoulders, wild, ginger, elegant curls. And pink, attractive lips. They were probably soft and sugary. And black long curved eyelashes. She was really stunning; he had never seen all that.

"You´re an ass and I´m not pointing that out"

"You are now", she was judging him, all the time and it bothered him. She had no idea. Emma grumbled and came closer to break eye contact. "You know, for being someone who understands people I don´t think you´re very understanding"

She tensed under his touch and pulled away. "You´re an asshole", with despise, she got rid of his grip and walked away, furious.

She rushed, passing by Shannon´s side and the woman gripped her wrist when noticing the angry look on her face. "Hey, what´s going on?"

"I'm sorry, Shan. I really am, but I can´t be with that man in the same room", her head indicated at Will, who was walking to them, "And here he comes…" she spoke under her breath.

"Guys what´s going on?" Shannon was beginning to get irritated, not understanding a thing.

"Nothing´s going on", he said calmly, his eyes settled on Emma´s.

"Yeah, right, and I´m married to Brad Pitt"

"This is not the place to discuss it", for the first time he had judgment, Emma thought surprised, "What?"

"Nothing", she muttered and then talked to Shannon, "Can we talk tomorrow?"

"Sure…"

"Bye", she practically ran away, not noticing Will following from behind.

"What?" his voice startled her.

"Why are you following me?"

"What was that face?"

She laughed, "Excuse me?"

"You´re excused"

All of a sudden her smiled faded away, "Ok, I´ll just say this clear enough for you, Will. I don't like you"

"I don´t like you either", _bullcrap_. She intrigued him. Deeply.

"Then why did you ask me to dance? Why are we even having this conversation?" her hands shook in the air, "I'm Shannon's friend. Not yours. We´re not friends-"

"Yeah, I can see that…" _you deserve it; she´s right, you´ve been as jerk since you got here_.

"-So stop this thing you´re playing"

"I'm not-"

"You are and makes no sense. You said it, you don´t like me. You never had the slightest intention of getting along with me and that´s fine!" she smiled, it was a sad smile, "I´m not interesting enough", he blushed profoundly, "I can leave with that. So why don´t you go back in there and leave me alone if I´m not interesting enough for you?"

He didn´t mean to come off as such an asshole in the first place, but the combination of hurt and rage in her voice shook him. She wasn´t a bad person, rather the opposite; he had witnessed that and had acted like she was.

Emma took his silence as an agreement and with nothing else, she left. And that was the last time they spoke, because the next morning, Will was gone.

_Liking it so far? Any comment, critic, word is always welcome!_


	6. Chapter 6

**VI**

"They can´t close us down!" the warning invoice was wrinkled on her sweaty hand, shaking in the air as she fought tears back.

"If we don´t get the money by the end of the month, this center is closing its doors", George, the oldest employee, had been chewing on this latest development for the past two hours, before Emma arrived.

"Where are all the people getting help? We can´t quit on them", she was in the verge of tears.

"I know, but there´s nothing we can do"

"There has to be something! We... We could raise the money, organize something, or sell something. I don´t know!"

"How are we gonna get 50 thousand dollars in 25 days, Emma?" his bald head was reddened after all the rubbing.

"I don´t know", she blubbered, heartbroken. Everything was a mess and there was nothing she could do to fix it.

She talked on the phone with Shannon that night. The woman always managed to cheer her up. Not that time though; that evening everything was dark and blue. She simply refused to believe there was no hope for the people going there. All those girls, her girls, where would they go? Even if they tried repairing the center, the property taxes that were owed were excessive. They couldn´t afford them.

It wasn´t until next week, when walking to the Foundation, that she saw a huge truck pulled in its entrance. _They wouldn´t be here for two more weeks_. She ran towards the vehicle.

"What´s going on?" the cold autumn breeze blew her curls off her face while approaching the two men.

"Who is sending this?" it was George, tears about to pour out of his eyes.

"It's an Anonymous donation, Sir. The rest of the equipment will be here tomorrow and so will the construction materials", a man in blue overalls said handing him a paper to sign.

"What´s all this?" she asked again going closer to them.

"I don´t know! But it´s a good thing Emma! Definitely good!" he was bouncing in place, "Look", he displayed an official document. "No debts! Not a single penny!"

"Church? Some corporation? Whose sending it?" she was speechless.

"It doesn´t say!"

It was a miracle.

-xx-

The next holiday would be the first Emma would spend away from home. After all the drama occurred with the center, it happened was now working perfectly again in less than a month. She could go; she should go for some much needed rest. George recommended it and Shannon had been insisting for the past few weeks.

The plane landed in New York a week before Christmas. And Shannon was there to pick her up.

The city was insane. Honking at every corner, people pushing, the smells; it was absolutely crazy and nerve wrecking.

"How can you live here?" Emma asked, dodging a couple who refused to move to let her through the small gap between a car and a parking meter.

"One gets used to it", the woman pulled her arm to bring her close when a sketchy man passed by her side.

They finally got to her place. It was really comfy. Enormous windows facing Central Park; a lovely bakery downstairs, making the chocolate aroma a regular thing in Shannon´s living space. With the snow falling down so quickly outside and the cocoa in her hand, it felt like Aspen.

"This is nice… no wonder you got used to it", Emma joked crumpled on the couch.

Shannon laughed, "Ok, just a couple of things before you settle in your bedroom. Number one: here are your keys-"

"Why would I need keys?"

"I gotta keep going to the office", she snorted annoyed, "and have several appointments… so ya may come and go as ya please", Emma nodded, "number two: if ya go out at night take a cab"

"Shan! I´m not twelve!" the redhead giggled.

"And number three…" the woman trailed with delicacy, "I have some invitations for this holiday…"

"Ok…", she was confused, "from whom?"

"Will"

"Oh…"

"You don´t have to come if you don´t want to"

"It was sort of inevitable we´d see each other, wasn´t it?"

"Yup", she couldn´t hold back a snicker, "But don´t worry; he´ll be with his friends so you don´t have to-"

"I know; don´t worry. I'm happy to be here"; she was. Will was just a detail she was determinate to stay away from.

-xx-

Inevitably, Will rang Shannon´s entry phone several days later.

"Yes?" a strange female voice was answering the call.

"Sorry, wrong apartment", another ring and the same voice answered, "Shannon´s?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"Will"

"Oh", silence, "Come on in". A few moments later there was the expected knock on the door. "Hi", Emma said when facing him.

He stood there, muted for a second, "H-Hi, Emma". A long sweater that went below her hips covered her upper body; and black thighs; her flamy red hair collected in a cute pony tail; a book in hand and a relaxed expression. He had forgotten how beautiful she really was.

"Shannon´s not here", he said when moving aside to let him in; it wasn´t her house to ask him to leave, after all.

Will had gotten two tickets for tonight´s show. He left them quite quickly in Emma´s hands, pleading he was running late for rehearsal. There were after-party and VIP tickets, too. But the truth was, he wasn´t expecting to see her; not right then at least. He was expecting to see Shannon and ask her to convince her to go. But maybe it had been a bad idea in the first place. Emma´s expression told him she wouldn´t go.

Meting his good pals didn´t sound like the most interesting thing to do that night; meeting a bunch a of people who´d probably be was high and mighty as him was daunting; but Shannon was going, so Emma didn't really have a choice.

The play was good. It was very good. Will had an amazing voice. He was intense and… sturdy. And built… she confirmed it when his t-shirt flew off during a scene. Actually Emma supposed she would have liked him if they had never spoken before. _You´re blushing! Why are you blushing_? At least the lack of lighting would cover it.

They met the crew afterward and Will´s manager. Tom. After a few words and jokes, Emma concluded that Tom wasn´t really as terrible as she had imagined he would be. They talked near the bar, a few people by their side and Will finally arrived.

"Where did you meet this woman?" Tom was blissful while shaking Emma´s shoulder.

"Oh, no… we´re just good acquaintances", the redhead pointed charmingly.

"We´ve got a very good friend in common", he added while the bartender placed his scotch in front of him, "I went to Ohio last summer and we met there"

"So that´s where you´re from?" Tom seemed enlightened, or drunk, "I couldn´t tell from your accent"

"C´mom, Tom! All accents are pretty much the same", his manager burst into laughter and Emma glared at him.

_Asshole_. "Really, Will?" her giggle was delightful while supporting her elbows on the bar and batting her eyelashes at him; she was bantering him; "Wow, you can´t distinguish accents? I never met a performer who couldn´t… isn´t that like a very important thing in your business?"

Tom was cracking up and Emma winked at him; Will´s was staring at her open mouthed.

-xx-

Will´s voice on the speaker brought a snort out of her. _Why does he keep coming here_? _Right. It´s Shannon´s place. _

"Shannon´s in the kitchen", she moved aside, letting him in and went back to the armchair where she was reading.

"Pumpkin, want a cup of coffee?" the host asked from the other room; a clear implicit invitation for her to join them.

"Thanks, Shan, I´m all right"; she wouldn´t join them. Not in a million years.

He stayed for half an hour, which seemed like a decade until finally his steps sounded near her.

"So I´ll expect you on the 22nd?" the words were directed to both of them. "My place. Nothing needed just you", he didn´t grin, didn´t purse his lips. Just spoke, emotionlessly.

"Sure", Shannon was excited.

"So, I´ll see you", he looked at Emma who smiled briefly. It was neither a yes, nor a no.

-xx-

She ended up walking into Will´s apartment the arranged day. After her friend´s insistence, and her lack of plans, she resolved it couldn't be that bad.

It wasn´t actually, not until once certain moment when after chatting with some of his cast crew Emma sat on the couch, wondering for how long she could avoid Will. They hadn´t spoken the entire evening and she didn´t know whether to feel relief or upset; it was him inviting her after all, but he was being hot and cold without distinction. Having to choose between bipolar Will and an antisocial Will wasn´t very appealing.

"Hey", his voice called her attention; he was carrying an extra cup of punch.

"Hi", it was like her mind was constantly calling for him; and he could hear her.

"Here", she hesitated before accepting the drink, "It´s not poisoned", was his attempt at joking, but it came out more like a defense.

The reddish straw danced under the toying of her fingers, and finally she took a small sip. "It´s good"

"How long are you staying?" there was awkwardness in his question. She didn´t know how to take it.

"I don´t know yet. A week probably"

"Do you like New York?" he sent her a sideways glance, appreciating how her hips bent back when she arched to leave the drink on the coffee table.

"It´s ok", she looked around, his eyes made her uneasy; she felt under a spotlight all the time.

"Have you gone ice-skating, yet?"

"No, I'm not good at it"

"It´s fun"

She doubted he could find something fun, "I don´t like falling on my butt".

He couldn´t hold back a small chuckle and Emma locked eyes with him; she had never seen him smile. "It´s a nice city", he pointed quietly as his face returned to that unemotional state, "You shouldn´t judge things by the first impression"

She just knew what he meant, "I don´t judge".

"You judged me"

"No, I didn´t judge you by the first impression; I judged you afterwards. And you judge me. Actually I don´t think you´ll ever stop doing it"

"Neither will you"

"Why did even come talk to me?" her head shook; confusion, annoyance written all over her face.

"Do you wanna dance?"

She choked on the punch she had decided to drink; the conversation wasn´t what she expected; as the matter of fact, she wasn´t expecting to talk to him in the first place, "I don´t think it ended well the last time we did"

"It didn´t, right?"

_Was that… No way, he can´t be regretting it_. "You are not gonna apologize?"

"I´m not the only one who has to apologize"

"So I guess the answer is no. Thank you, I don't wanna dance"

"What, you would have said if I said 'I´m sorry'?"

"I´d have thought about it"

This woman didn´t stop amazing him; she was really one of a kind.

"Maybe I should go", he mumbled seeing there was a woman calling for him.

Emma nodded. It was weird. Everything was so weird.

"Bye guys!" the party was coming to its end, "Take a cab home, ok?" Will advice to a very drunk couple walking out the door.

Emma and Shannon were about to leave too. "We´ll be leaving as well, Willo"

"OK, are you driving?"

"Yep"

"Give me your car keys, Shan", the woman had had a couple of extra drinks.

"What?" she laughed.

"You won´t drive"

"Relax, Will. We´re not stupid; we´ll walk home", Emma was leaning on the doorframe, a little tipsy as well.

"You´re not stupid, you say? It´s 2 o´clock in the morning, I won´t let two women walk alone through those streets"

"Fine! We´ll-"

"Stop ya two! Geez, ya´re always fighting!" Shannon rubbed her face, clearly annoyed.

"Sorry", Emma lowered her gape, "Sorry, Shan… Let´s go. We´ll take a cab"

_I´m already excited about next chapter xD_


	7. Chapter 7

**Smut warning. This is clearly the moment where I divert from the book´s argument. ^^**

**VII**

The door opening abruptly caused Emmato jump in her seat and drop her book.

"Will", he stood there, eyes settled intensely on her; the weight of his gape was oppressing and she walked a few steps to him, "Hi, w-what are you doing here? Shannon´s at the store"

"I know", his fingers rubbed together.

"She´ll be back in a min…" forcing him to leave wasn´t really an option; this wasn´t her house and he looked rather disturbed, "Do you want some coffee?"

"No, thanks", he was stiff as a board and Emma began to worry.

"Why don´t you sit?"

"It´s ok… I-I´m fine", he remained there, looking at her with that same expression.

"Ok… Uhm, are you ok?"

"Perfectly", was his breathed answer. Then silence.

"Can I help you with anything?" the reason of his visit was still unknown.

"No, it´s fine", he gulped and Emma watched him look around.

"Are you sure you-"

"Hey! I´m home!" Shannon´s merry voice, "Will, hey-"

"I should be going now…" he mumbled walking back to the entrance, "It was nice to see you"

The door closed and Shannon spoke, utterly shocked, "What the hell was that?"

"I have no idea", she was as confused as her friend.

-xx-

Emma hated hearsay. But what reached her ears some sunsets later disturbed her. Severely.

"I´m sorry, but no. I won´t ask Carl to come over as well. Will´s gonna be there!" the voices came from a table nearby. The café was crammed with people of the show industry.

"Maybe they can avoid each other", the woman had hopes her friend would change her mind.

"Carla, the man kicked him out after all what happened with his sister. How pleasant can that be? No way. I´m not asking Carl to come. Plus you know how things are between him and Christy as well."

The rest was a blur. Emma only heard one thing. _He kicked him out_? Now Will was not only the rudest and impolite she had ever met, but also a heartless beast. _Leaving a man on the streets? What kind of person would do something like that? Poor Carl…_

If saying terrible things to a man who broke up with his sister was already over the top to Emma, finding out he had also kicked Carl out of the house was the embodiment of wickedness. It was outrageous. _How could someone be so cruel_? At least she knew his corrupted behavior wasn´t directed toward her only. He was like that with everybody. Lately the brushes between them had smoothed down, but learning that tiny little detail changed everything and Emma´s attitude put a wall between the two.

-xx-

Shannon had asked her to go to his place to look for a purse she had accidentally left there a couple of days ago. For the first time, she took a minute to look around; it was a very nice apartment; spacious, lightened, very up to date.

"Sorry to bother you", she said when he handed her the red leather purse.

"Need something else?" the bizarre episode some days ago was never mentioned.

"No"

"Right…" she smiled briefly and he called when she turned around, ready to open the door, "Listen… Would you like to go out with me sometime?"

"What?" his words caught her unaware.

"Yeah, you know", he rubbed his nape, clearly uncomfortable; "Would you like to go out with me?"

"Why?"

"I like you"

"You like me?"; she wasn´t expecting that at all.

"Yeah…" she wasn´t saying yes and Will only wanted to punch himself, "despite your bad manners and vicious words"

"_My_ bad manners and vicious words?" her tone was full of contempt and he felt seriously inhibited.

"Yeah, you know… for someone like you, you´re not that terrible", he felt she was making something so simple to be so hard and the rejection was about to happen; he just knew it. The best thing he could do was to make her leave to save the humiliation.

"Someone like me?" her voice lost the little smoothness it had left after every word.

"Yes, even though you´re sloppy you kinda nailed it the other night"

Her eyes enlarged with horror, not willing to take his implicit insult, "You have no filter, have you? First you said I´m not interesting enough and now you tell me you thought I wasn´t good enough to hobnob with your pals?", her voice raised, reaching a pitch of annoyance, "No one´s good enough for you, are they? Not Carl for your sister, not me… What kind of superior being do you think you are?"

He only heard one thing, and hissed taking a step forward, "_Carl_?"

Emma didn´t move, "Yes, Carl"

"What does Carl have to do with this conversation?"

"I think you know; you left him on the streets. How could you be so vile? You´re poisoned and uncaring and now you ask me to go out with you? Well, listen carefully: I wouldn´t go out with you even if you were the last standing man on Earth"

Her chest waved, every fiber of her body tickled. She wouldn´t admit it, but it tickled; just like when she had danced with him, so closely; just like when she had seen him perform.

His eyes were clouded, a few inches away from hers; so clouded they made goose bumps on her skin. And his hand grasped her nape and crushed their mouths together, forcefully. She froze, but Will only kissed her harder.

She had no idea what kind of demoniac influence had possessed her, but Emma kissed him back, equally harder, feeling his tongue pushing inside her mouth. And then her arms were holding him tight; his arms snaked around her waist to pull her close and pressed her against the door. Her back hit the wood and she moaned, and then he lifted her from behind. It was desperate, almost violent, the way their mouths moved together; flesh mingling forcefully; rasping breathes. His hands were underneath her cardigan, his hot breath on her skin, grinding against her, vigorously. She moaned, and forced him hard against her core with her heels.

How they ended up laying in bed, moving together so wildly, Emma didn´t know. He had undressed her with surprising velocity and she had ripped his clothes off faster. And he rammed in to her, scooping her ass to bring her hips to meet his, his jagged gasps on her parted mouth. It was an orchestra of deep breaths and groans. Her moans were low; her nails dug his into strong back, coaxing him to go deeper inside her, leaving red scratches on their way. There were no words of adoration, no gentle caresses, only intense thrusts and enthusiastic bucks; meaningless, reckless sex; a stolen wet kiss from time to time, a hickey on her collarbone. She arched and whined below him, fisting his hair, keeping his face buried between her breasts. Greed, sweat and his groans against her skin. His tongue licking her jaw line, then his lips devouring hers; Emma climaxed three times before he did and then, silence and pants; heavy, filled with lust, pants.

The white sheets enveloped her bare chest, the snow fell outside. The ceiling was high above her. She budged on the mattress and watched him rub his temple. "This was a mistake", was his throaty voice

_Hell, yes. Right_? She wouldn´t deny it was the best sex she had ever had. It was only with the wrong person.

"Maybe you should go-"

"Sure. Kick me out as well", she hurled the sheets off her, feeling like a used rag.

Her naked back was to him and Will watched her clip her bra back on and slide her panties up her hips. She had freckles all along her back, "I didn´t mean it like-"

"I have no idea what the hell is wrong with me"

"Emma-"

"Don´t touch me", she moved, flinching away from his hand, "I can´t believe I agreed to do this", partially naked as she was, Emma walked across the room, looking for her missing clothes.

"I guess that´s a no", his body collapsed back on the bed and she didn´t get to catch his glossy eyes, "You´re clueless about so many things,Emma"

"Can´t wait for your enlightenment"

He said nothing and she left.

It took her more than hour to direct her in the direction back to Shannon´s. She needed to stop at the pharmacy to get the morning-after pill; they hadn't used any protection. Terrible, awful mistake. Fresh air would do her well, and maybe would blow away the feeling of him; his perfume was all over her and Emma felt conflicted about that.

"Emma! Where have ya been? I was worried sick!", Shannon rushed to her almost two hours later.

"I'm ok"

"I just talked to Will", Emma froze, "and he freaked out when I asked him about ya and he told me he thought ya were here."

"H-he called?"

"No, I did. Cause you weren´t home yet"

"Didn´t mean to scare you"

"Pumpkin, what´s going on? Ya look like crap", her friend directed her to the couch to sit down for a moment.

"Will just asked me out"

"What? Will asked you out?"

"Yes"

"Will? Will Schuester asked ya out?"

"Yes", Emma nodded, licking her lips.

"He _never_ asks women out"

"Yeah, I can tell… he sucks at it", silence, and then the bomb, "I slept with him"

"_What_?"Shannon shrieked, shocked.

"I´m not proud, Shan, don´t make me say it again"

"H-how did that happen?"

"I… I don´t know…" she really didn´t; she didn´t understand why she had done what she had done, "he asked me out, and then he was a jerk, and kissed me. The next thing I knew I was on his bed"

"Emma…", Shannon trailed.

"I know! I don´t do that. I don´t know why I did it. I just _couldn´t_ stop", her face was red as her hair, not making eye contact, "despite all the things he said…"

"What did he say?"

"Basically, he said I was unworthy of him"

"He said that?"

"Yes, and then he kicked me out, you know after we…" she blushed even more.

"He kicked you _out_?" it didn´t sound like something Will would do, not at all.

"So I guess he just wanted to get into my pants… that´s all right. Could have been a little gentler…"

"Sweetie… ", the whole situation resembled to some sort of Wonderland story. It made absolutely no sense.

"Why are you friends with him?", Emma shook her head, not comprehending what a sweet person like Shannon was doing with a douchebag like him.

"He´s not-"

"He is… he´s treated me like white trash since day one. And you know it"

"He hasn´t had a good year, pumpkin… there was a lot going on in his life…" she tried to justify him.

"And why do I have to suffer for him?"

"Ya don´t. Ya´re right"

"I booked a ticket back to Lima-"

"Em-"

"It´s uncomfortable being here, knowing I'll have to see him. I´m sorry, this got out of control"

_It turned out kinda angsty... It had to, tho. Next chapter will be here on monday... I won´t be at home until then...!_


	8. Chapter 8

**VIII**

It was his voice on the speaker making her jerk. Not in a million years she would have imagined he would be ringing at the door.

"Just one thing", he said, cheeks burning intensely, "this is for you", and he left.

An envelope in her hands and not a single word.

_Dear Emma, _

_I´m writing these lines and imagining the look on your face the moment I give them to you. You probably hate me now. I don´t blame you, actually. I´ve been a perfect jackass to you. You said it. But I'm not writing this to portray myself as a miserable man. I´m not miserable, just been through some tough times in the past year. _

_I was bitter when first arriving to Lima. Extremely bitter and the only person willing to talk to me despite my horrid face was you. You were so sweet and so pretty. And I deliberately treated you like garbage. Like you were the one responsible for what happened in my life. The only one who gave me an offering of friendship was you, and I spit on it. Maybe I should have found myself a spittoon, and instead left you alone. I don´t know what kind of mental illness could have possessed me to act like that towards you. You were by far the nicest person I´ve met. The most interesting and beautiful. _

_Maybe I should start from the beginning. _

_You met Carl and you liked him. I was ok with that really, leaving aside he´s not the nicest man to be around women. I was slightly jealous for a while; he got to talk to you and awake your interest, things I couldn´t and I'm sorry. He´s a very approachable man, actually. That was how he got my sister, Sonia. I never told you about her… We never spoke that much except to openly express nasty words. I started that. She just turned 19. Sonia. Pretty young for a man in his early thirties, uh? But I was ok with that. I´ve known Carl for more time than I can recall; we used to be good friends back on high school and we got in to the same college. I knew him. Or thought I did. He got Sonia pregnant, the same year she turned 18. I was ok with that too. It took me a while to get used to the idea that my sister, my little sister, would be a mother before turning 20. But they were together so everything should be fine. I wasn´t expecting them to get married, that´s sort of unrealistic, but I thought they would be together and he´d take responsibility. _

_I´m using the past so you can figure out what happened. _

_He flew. Practically forced her to have an abortion and when she refused, he left, accusing her of cheating on him. Perfect excuse not to take charge of the great mess he had gotten himself into. That was why I kicked him out. That´s why I almost broke his nose. I hate coming out like this, like such a beast, sister-keeper, mad man. But he broke her heart and left her to her good luck. She couldn´t get in to college and now is living with my aunts in Princeton, in NJ, where she and the baby are stress free._

_This takes me to that day where you told me how confused I was, remember? I wasn´t confused, I was just speaking from my experiences. To be completely honest, I didn´t think Sonia had much future. But then, when I saw what you did with Sam, in the Hospital… I thought maybe Sonia wasn´t as hopeless as I believed. Maybe someone as amazing as you will help her; and maybe she gets the chance she´s missed. I´m sorry about that day too. I realize I'm so sorry about so many things… Hospitals creep me out; walking by its hallways feels like a prelude to death… For me it´s like that after Sonia. Daniel, my nephew, was a premature baby. A very premature baby. His birth wasn´t normal or pleasant and seeing Sam like that only reminded me of my sister. She almost died, Emma. And I just wanted to get the hell out of there. But you looked so troubled, I didn´t know if I could leave you. Do you have any siblings? Maybe you know what I'm talking about. Hope you can understand me. I´m sure you will…_

_But maybe I´m too optimist, thinking there'd be someone as wonderful as you out there. I want good things for her. I wish you could meet her someday. She could learn so much from you. You´re a very extraordinary person, Emma. Maybe you´ve been told that more than once; but I never told you._

_I tried to, though; yesterday. But everything went absolutely wrong. I panicked; I thought you´d tell me to get lost the moment those words left my mouth. You did eventually, but only because I left you no other choice by saying all those horrible things. You´re not rude, or sloppy; you're so far from that._

_And then everything happened so fast. Emma I´m sorry. I never meant things to happen like that. Never meant to be so… crude and forceful. I´m not like that. But Emma, those images hunted me the entire night. You were, God, so beautiful. I wish it was different. I´d have done everything so different with you. I´d have taken you out, probably to have dinner (I know a place I´m sure you´d love) and then I´d have kissed you goodnight, right before leaving you at Shannon´s. And probably, I´d have called you the next day to ask you out again. For lunch, because I´m certain I wouldn´t have stopped thinking about you. And probably later, days later, I´d have asked you to come up. And did what we did yesterday. But I´d adore you._

_I hated marking on you. But I love knowing it´s my mouth printed on your skin and not another man´s. I´m sorry… I´m not this possessive. I don´t know what´s wrong with me. You do this thing to me… You make me want things too much. I´m sorry, it´s creepy, but I don´t mean it in that way._

_I´m sorry… what I said. It wasn´t a mistake. But it wasn´t what it was supposed to be either. I didn´t want it like that, so meaningless. And Emma I never kicked you out. You left me no time for explanations (I´m not accusing you) and then you were out. _

_Em, we didn´t use protection. I realized that the minute you walked out the door. Whatever happens, as much as you hate me, don't push me away. And I´ll find out if something does, so please don´t hide it from me. I´d hate to know you´re dealing with something like that all alone. You deserve so much more. So much more than me…_

_What I said, that I liked you. Maybe I softened my words a little. I really like you. And I don´t even know you as much as I'd like to. That´s scary. I can´t imagine how I´d feel if we have a decent conversation instead of the insults and attacks we've had. Maybe it´s the best if we end up like this; better for my heart I mean; it wouldn´t be broken just by knowing I'd spend more time with you, knowing I'd fall even more for you and you´d still hate me. But I hurt you… Don´t know which feeling is worse…_

_I´m really sorry. For everything. I won´t ever put you through something like this… Unless, unless sometime, destiny makes brings paths together and you give me a second chance._

_Hope everything works out for you, Emma. Good luck,_

_Will_

And that was when she knew, when reading the letter more times than she could count; there was something stirring inside her. Something he had awakened in her and she had never been aware enough to notice it.

_A/N:Terribly sorry for the late update! Short chapter, I know… but a lot of info ;)_


	9. Chapter 9

**Happy times coming...**

**IX**

Emma happened to like New York during Christmas. Despite how insufferable she had found the city the last time she had walked across it, now she actually stopped in her tracks to admire everything around her.

Snow, glamour, colors everywhere; ribbons and Christmas trees around the corner, the smell of hot chocolate coming out from every door. She would probably spend a week at Shannon´s and then return to Lima, although seeing Will made her extremely anxious. Maybe they wouldn´t see each other… They hadn´t spoke since the last time; since that afternoon, since the letter. But what could she possibly tell him? She was embarrassed, sorry, edgy…

What a simple written paper could do… From the moment she had read it, she just knew how mistaken her behavior had been; and how much she regretted it. And since that moment she had the need to read it over and over again, she just knew she was mad about him. She had been drawn in with him, since first seeing him; mistakenly, her impressions had been injudicious and Emma had judged him, based on a terrible first impression. She wasn´t like that, she wasn´t a person who fell in love easily either. _Maybe someone as amazing as you will help her; you´re an extraordinary person; you do this things to me… you make me want things too much; I really like you_… It was crazy, he barely knew her. And she barely knew him. But there she had been, reading and rereading his letter uncountable times. Recreating the afternoon when his mouth linked with her, the heat of their bodies together…

"Emma"

Her eyes broadened; it was Will. He was just a few feet away; a young girl next to him and a baby in her arms.

"Will… Hi", words came out breathed, her stomach flipped.

"Hi"

She gulped, and so did he. They stared, long and intensely. It had been so long. He was as handsome as she remembered him; and she was as pretty as the first time he had seen her.

"What are you doing here?" he walked slowly towards her, wondering if she was even real. His mind had secretly recreated some precious moment where they´d meet again. _Yeah, sure like she´d come back after all the things you did and say to her. _

"I´m… spending holidays with Shannon"

Silence.

"Hi", the girl said seeing there were no introductions made.

"Hi"

"I´m sorry; Sonia this is Emma. Emma, this is my sister Sonia"

"It´s nice to meet you", Emma would have shaken her hand, but she was carrying the little boy.

"You´re Emma?" the girl smiled widely and looked knowingly at her brother.

"Yes"

"I´ve heard a lot about you. It´s really nice to meet you", Sonia kissed her cheek lovingly and Emma could do nothing but stare at him.

"I don´t know what could you possibly have heard; hope good things", she managed to joke.

"The best things"

Again their eyes met.

_I´m so sorry_.

_You talked about me_?

It was chest oppressing; all those unspoken words.

"And, uhm, who is this?"

"Oh, this little bug? This is Daniel", Sonia shifted the sleepy baby in her arms; he was absolutely adorable.

"Oh my God, he´s so cute!", her finger caressed the reddish cheek of the boy and he snuggled on his Mothers chest, "How old is he?"

"He´ll be a year and 2 months in two weeks"

_So young_? Then she remembered; he was a premature baby. He was really small for his age; "He´s really sweet"; she noticed the resemblance with Carl. He had the same black hair and nose. And Emma wondered if he had Sonia´s eyes, the same hazel eyes Will had.

"Would you like to join us?" he asked suddenly and Emma looked at Sonia, unsure; she didn´t want to interrupt a family moment, but her smile was inviting

"Uhm, ok…"

"Would you like to carry him?"Sonia asked inside the café shop once the baby stirred up and began stretching toward Emma.

"Hi, there",Daniel blinked while standing on her knees; he had hazel eyes and Emma looked at Will but spoke to his sister, "He has your eyes"

"And Will´s", the girl wasn´t fool and Emma blushed.

"Yeah… Are you a good boy,Daniel?" the baby giggled, "Are you? I bet you are! Oh, my god I could just eat you up!" she planted a sonorous kiss on his cheek and the boy kept on laughing.

"How you´ve been?" he dared to ask after a few moments. She looked fine, but she had always looked good.

"I-I´m fine", _why are you being so coy?_, "I moved. To a bigger place, near the school and the community center"

"Still working there?" she nodded, "Thought you wouldn´t when classes started again"

"I wanted to but, uhm, they kinda push me not to", he chuckled, "I go there just a couple of days a week. I work with single moms", she explained to Sonia who was listening interested.

"Yes, I know... Will told me"

It was his time to blush and stir the cocoa nervously.

"What about you? What do you do?" the redhead tried to break the ice when Will shushed and remained like that for a while.

"I…Will helped me to get in to college. I´m living with him now"

She was startled, in a good way, and gazed at him; respect written all over her face. "Really?"

"Yup. He´s changed. You´re changed aren´t you, brother?"Sonia pushed his arm playfully and winked at her.

"I´m the same", he was inhibited with the two women looking at him like that. Sonia, mockingly; Emma… he couldn´t read her expression.

-xx-

It was uncomfortable seeing him again at Shannon´s place again and not saying a word about his letter. It was clear he wasn´t expecting to see her again or he wouldn´t have said all those things back then.

Just as the last occasion she had been there; her friend would be working until a few days before Christmas, giving Emma a lot of time for herself and for delighting New York attractions. There weren´t many things she could do alone, though, and she wasn´t familiar enough with the city to be venturing to places she didn´t know.

The ice-skating ring was crowded; really crowded. It looked fun, sliding on the ice, feeling her cheeks burn with the cold air, the adrenaline of the unusual; but endeavoring in to some risky task without having a clue on how to stand on two legs with skates was scary and she had no intentions of wearing a cast for Christmas Eve.

A sharp skid and suddenly a familiar face was standing in front of her.

"Thought you didn´t want to fall on your butt", he smiled graciously.

Second time they met; she was startled for a moment, "Hi", she giggled, "I´m not skating"

"Yet"

"Uhm I don´t know…" she looked down apprehensively to the crushed ice on her feet.

"Sonia´s here… ", he turned around, showing her where his sister was; moving slowly on the ice, with Daniel on her arms, his little arms shaking excitedly in the air.

"I don´t think Sonia could catch me", she took a step back.

"I can catch you", he smiled once more and slide by her side when she started walking on the other side of the ring, where the safe pavement was.

Emma gazed down to her jeans, "I don´t think I´m properly dressed".

He laughed, "You don´t need to have proper clothing for it. It´s fun…"

"Uhm, ok…" she finally acceded and moved tentatively to where he was, the skates were correctly fitted, "Now what?"

"Now you skate…" he chuckled taking her hand to help her out, "See? It´s not that terrible…"

"Uhm, I guess not", she copied his moves, deeply focused on not falling down.

"Hey, Sony look who´s here!" he gently pushed her toward his sister.

"Don´t!", Emma let out a nervous laugh, "Don´t push me like that!"

One more chuckle and her hand was in his again, "Sorry… Come…"

She joined their slow slither around the frozen sphere for a while, until Sonia left. "I should take Daniel to a warmer place… Why don´t you meet me in the café on the corner?" the young girl had been trying to leave them alone since Emma first got there.

"Are you-are you working?"Emma questioned when the woman slide away holding her son.

"Yes. Same play you saw last year… Remember?" he moved backwards with grace, facing her as she clumsily tried to keep her balance.

"Of course", she nodded, embarrassed, "I never told you how good it was"

His face lightened slightly, "Glad you enjoyed it. Tomorrow´s the last show… I´d have saved tickets for you, but I had no idea you´re coming"

"Don´t worry"

"I never thought you´d come back", he finally declared taking his original position next to her; that way it´d be easier avoiding her eyes.

"Me neither", she gulped and licked her dry lips, "Listen,Will… I´m… I´m sorry"

"It´s me, I'm the one who should be apologizing", she said nothing, the moment was so intimate, despite all the people around them, "You did nothing wrong"

"I feel like I did…" she confessed not looking at him.

"What? No. Emma, no. I didn´t give it to you to make you feel guilty. Gosh…" everything was working perfect; he just wanted to punch himself, "I wrote it because it needed to be written and I needed to tell you"

"Thank you for telling me"

"I was cruel to you"

"I wasn´t very nice either"

"I can´t blame you, actually"

"I had no idea", she murmured again more to herself than to him.

"That´s exactly why you shouldn´t apologize", his smile was sweet, "What happened back then…Emma, I´m really sorry. I´m not like that. I´ve never been the man you met"

"Yeah… I can tell", she blushed, "People like you; you´re not a bad man... Shannon adores you. Sonia loves you"

"Sonia´s my sister", he managed to joke, "And as for Shannon… well, you know her… she´s never been too sane"

Emma chortled lightly and played along, "They do still; despite Shannon´s possible mental illness and the fact that you´re related to Sonia. But, uhm…." the smiled faded away, "You know what I mean", he nodded, blushful and then silence, "You, uhm, you said other things…" she trailed slowly.

"Some things were unnecessary", he knew what she meant, and was hoping she´d pass over them. But, oh no, Emma Pillsbury was determinate to mention them. And it made him edgy, "Nothing happened, right?". Thinking it twice, he should have saved a thing or two. The world was a small place and he should have imagined they´d meet again. But no. He and his big mouth, or irrepressible hand, had to say it all. Needless really. _Why would you creep her out like that_? He really wanted to save himself the shame of queries and awkward explanations. And above all, he wanted to avoid the unstoppable urge to say more that would come if she kept making questions.

"Nothing happened", she confirmed shaking her head.

"I´m sorry", he said once more, "I´m not like that"

"I know"

"I don´t want you to think… I was deliberately putting you through that…"

"It´s in the past, really", was her reassurance although something bugged inside her. Maybe she had been foolish for having thought about him for that long. Clearly a lot of water would go under a bridge to have a reason to hold onto something as superfluous as a reckless night. Yet, she had; evidently he hadn´t. It had been a year, why would he? But his manners were polite, and caring. And that was all that mattered to her.

A smiled crossing his lips and then his hand was on her again, "It´s nice seeing you"

"It´s nice seeing you too"

"So we´re ok? Can we, you know, start from the beginning?

"I think we already did"

"Good"

Truth to be told, he wanted to work his relationship with her from zero. But it was hard going back to zero when he was already at 15380.

_A/N: Sorry if there´re some spacing missing between the words... IDK why fanfic insits on deleting them. _

_Reviews are lovely!_

_Aggie_


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello again! Hope you´re enjoying this so far... For some reason this chapter was particulary hard for me to write... Hope not to dissapoint you. Any comment, critic, word you wanna leave is always welcome!**

**Aggie**

**X**

It was a completely different person the one Emma met during winter recess. He smiled and cared, although he had always cared, only she didn´t know. There were no despicable words, only gentlemanliness. He offered to join them for a Christmas get together at his place; an invitation she accepted with a smile.

The theater crew was there, along with other people she didn't know. The knock on the door was answered by a very good lookingWill, who found a gorgeous Emma; her curls collected in a chignon, white coat and matching gloves.

"Hi"

"Hey", he took her coat; there was a short, very fitted, long sleeved green dress draping her body, "You look very beautiful", he could only stammer when seeing how perfectly the fabric clutched her little frame.

A light blush crept up her cheeks, "Thank you… You look very smart"

They stared, long, "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure"

He had never seen that demure side of hers, this reserved, coy, side of her. He only knew her passion, her strong will, her character and he had fell for it. But this… this was a whole new feature he adored even more. She was feminine, charming.

"You made it?" she asked when tasting the cold drink.

"Why? Is it too bad?"

"No", she giggled.

"In that case, yes. I made it", another giggle and he smiled.

"Who is this pretty redhead?" a theatrical voice called their attention.

"Hi",Emma said.

"Emma, this is Tim a very good friend of , this is Emma; she´s from Ohio"

"Is this your real color?" the man referred the hair and Emma nodded, "_Oh my Gaaaaaad_! It matches your eyes. I want that. Think it´d look good on me?"

Will couldn´t help but laugh loudly, "Tim, you´re insane"

"Why? I like it!"

They talked a lot. Tim was a real character and he seemed to worship Emma. She discovered the man was a choreographer at work and in real life, because he didn´t let her leave the dance floor.

Will stood a few feet away, talking to Tom, but not really listening to a word he was saying. He just couldn´t manage to take his eyes off of Emma´s swaying hips; hips wearing green, moving seductively, probably unconsciously. The fabric climbed slightly up her thighs; whiteness and flesh. _Oh my God_. He gulped. _Get a grip, Schuester_.

"You know, sweetie", Tim whispered on her ear, "I think someone´s pretty interested in your… _dress_"

"What?"

Tim pointed with his head at Will who quickly diverted his gape as soon Emma´s settled on him. "No, no… we´re just friends"

"Keep thinking that"

Her face flushed red and her own embarrassment made her laugh. Tim was mocking at her; he had been making those kinds of comments the entire night.

"Hey". _Will. Oh, Gosh_. "Wanna dance?" he took her hand, not really waiting for an answer and she nodded. Two spins and he snaked his arm around her waist. The music had changed and she smiled when he brought her hand to rest on his shoulder. A step forward and his chin brushed her temple. His mouth close, his breath hot on her ear and Emma swallowed.

_If you want a lover, I'll do anything you ask me to_

_And if you want another kind of love, I'll wear a mask for you_

_If you want a partner take my hand_

_If you wanna strike me down in anger, here I am._

_´Cause I'm your man_

_ If you want a boxer, I´d step into the ring for you_

_If you want a doctor, I´ll examine every inch of you_

_If you want a driver climb inside_

_If you wanna take me for a ride, you know you can_

_Cause I´m your man_

_The moon´s too bright, the chain´s too tight _

_The beast won´t go to sleep_

_I´ll be running through these promises to you, that I made I could not keep_

_Oh, for a man never got a woman back not by begging on its knees_

_Or I´d crawl to you baby and I´d fall at your feet_

_I´d howl at your beauty like a dog in heat_

_And I´d claw at your heart and I´d shred at your sheets_

_I say please, _

_´Cause I´m your man_.

"That-that´s a pretty song", she could only whisper when his voice shushed, letting Michael Bubble finish it.

"Yup", he pulled away to look at her. "What?"

Her eyes were big, there was a curious expression in them, "No... I thought… Don´t worry"

"No, tell me", he smiled, squeezing her waist so very lightly and Emma´s eyelashes batted.

"You´ve changed", she said finally, "In a good way. I…"

"What?"

"I´m sorry"

"What? What for?" a confused smiled line his lips.

"I read your letter… like really read it,Will. I´m sorry"

"I know you did", he really didn´t want to face her so directly when those words left her mouth.

"You said some things…" she trailed once more.

"Emma, I-"

"I know you said they were unnecessary. Did you mean all that?"

His stomach turned and felt all the blood of his body travelling to his face, "Erm, I…"

"Don´t feel embarrassed", she was flushing as well.

"I do"

"Don´t"

"I cannot not feel embarrassed" his face was on fire.

"Why?"

"Why can´t I-"

"Why didn´t say all that before? That you, uhm, liked me? Why didn´t you stop me the day I left your apartment?"

"I tried, but then… it was kinda late", his eyes left hers for a moment, "Emma, we don´t have to talk about this now"

"I know… but you wouldn´t talk about it", she was certain he wouldn´t run away in the middle on the dance floor.

He chuckled, "Yeah…"

"Any reason you wouldn´t?"

"Because the man you met is not the man I am. I´m not proud", he was mortified; all the things he had said, all those possessive feelings he had had. Maybe she´d think he didn´t have them anymore if they didn´t talk about it. That was what she thought the minute he pronounced those words. It was a different Will.

"Yes, you said that. I know…" he was uncomfortable, the way his palm tensed on her lower back betrayed him; so she dropped it. That wasn´t the reason she had brought the subject up again. In fact she wanted to tell him many other things, but he looked like he wanted to forget the whole thing.

They moved with the rhythm in silence, a fact he appreciated until someone yelled.

"Heeeey! Mistletoe!", It was Tim´s excited voice.

"What?"

"Mistletoe!"

They looked above their heads, to the little green twig and then to each other. He was hesitant; she was embarrassed.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss!"

"Cut it off,Tim!" Will reprimand his friend with a nervous chuckle, but the man only kept yelling louder.

"Uhm…"Emma glanced at him and his eyes closed apologetically.

When he opened them back, she was there, close, standing on her tiptoes, "Emma, you don´t have to…" his palms were sticky, but he didn´t want her to do something she´d regret for some letter he had given her. He didn´t want her to feel sorry for him for being ridiculously crazy about her.

"I know", she looked down and then back to him, "But he won´t shut up", a snigger and then her lips were on his; pressing together softly. Her face was red as a tomato when pulling away, "Merry Christmas"

"Y-yeah, you too"

-xx-

Will couldn´t erase the feeling of her lips on his. Her perfume, so sweet and invading. It was unbearable. Her hand on his shoulder, moving tentatively to the back of his neck, just a few inches of his hot skin. He could feel warmth and she wasn´t even touching him. Her eyes, those eyes…

And then her mouth in between dreams; her hot pink mouth on his jaw line. Her hips pressed on his; and skin, lots of skin rubbing together. His name rolling out her lips, throatily, almost purred and all her slickness around him, moving steadily, in a perfect tempo; her breast under his palms and a moan and pressure on his lower half. Her tongue in his mouth, twirling with his flesh; more pressure and a kiss and her legs circling his moving hips. _Emma_… a smile on her lips, she was sizzling, arching beneath him; the curve of her neck was captured with his teeth, softly; a whine and his name again.

"Emma…", darkness and a practically jumped off the bed and looked around the empty bedroom. The sheets scattered messily around him, the empty bed. He was sweating and cold, but his body was sizzling; and hard, "Shit…"; he collapsed back on the mattress, rolling aside to the blank side of the bed.

It had been so real.


	11. Chapter 11

**XI**

Disregarding Shannon´s advice, Emma went out for a Park seemed attractive from the baloney, and quiet under the streetlights and darkness. She needed to think for a second. It was confusing. Everything was confusing; the look onWill's face was confusing, her heart hammering so hard against her chest was confusing, his words were confusing, the way his sister stared at her was confusing.

He had changed, Emma had noticed it. His gaze had softened, he smiled; he was nicer, gentler. It wasn´t new, although. He had always been like that, just never seen it before. She walked under the pergola, towards the deck to the frozen lake. She´d leave in a week or so and wondered about the source of her glumness.

"Hey", she jolted at the foreign voice.

"Will?", his figure emerged from the shadows, hands in his coat pockets, a smile grin lining his lips.

"Hi"

"H-hi… what are you doing here? You scared me…", a nervous snicker left her lungs.

"Sorry. How are you?"

"I'm fine… Just needed a walk", her breathe vaporized when coming out her mouth. It was a cold, cold night.

"Mind if I join you?"

"No…", she smiled and turned around to continue her stroll, "you always come here, don´t you?", it was the third time they had met there and wondered if she was unconsciously visiting the park so she could bump into him.

"Yup. It´s nice and quiet", he said looking to his shoes. It was cute the way he shied back, the way his eyes shunned Emma´s when she was attentive to him.

"Yeah, I like it", the air slipped around her neck; she had been clumsy not bringing her scarf or something to cover herself with and shuddered; he didn´t seem to notice. "How´s Sonia and Daniel?"

"Fine… sleeping already", he chuckled, "they´re leaving tomorrow morning. To my aunt´s"

"Yes, I remember", he had mentioned in his letter he had family there.

They stopped on the boundary railing on the lake. Dark and immaculate, and dangerous and desolated.

"Did you enjoy the ice-skating the other day?"

"Very much. Thanks for inviting me"

"You can´t be in New Yorkand not do it", he commented with a light smile and Emma mirrored his expression. Her nose was rosy and so were her cheeks. _Maybe I could warm her up. _A cold breeze and she trembled. She was freezing. _Yes, you could_._ No_. But she was looking at him with those gorgeous eyes. The warmth of her skin had never been so desired; the curve of her waist… maybe it was as soft as he remembered. His eyes were settled on hers and Emma watched him. He seemed so deep in thoughts, she didn´t dare to ask what was he thinking, but she was dying to do so. Another shiver and her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"You are cold…"

"Just a little…", she lied.

"Here…", he took off his scarf and hung it around her neck, "there", his fingers combed the curls on her nape, releasing them from the wool.

"Thank you", she stared at him, his hands so close to her chest. He didn´t mean to look at her so darkly, but his eyes were clouded.

"I like this", he indicated her necklace, bright on her pale skin.

"My grandma gave it to me", was her exhaled answer as his fingers touched the silver chain, slightly brushing her flesh.

The pad of his fingertips traced the jewelry across her cleavage, rejoicing with her smoothness and she breathed, heavily. "It´s really nice", his voice was low and he wasn´t talking about her grandmother´s present anymore.

"Is it?", _touch me more_. She had become ravenous; he was making her hot.

"Yes, so beautiful"

It was burning; everything was burning andEmmawasn´t cold anymore.

He could practically hear her take in air, sharp, sultry, coming out her parted mouth. And he gulped, his Adam´s apple bobbed and Emma beheld him…

The strong jaw line, his tongue licking his lips. That tongue she had felt too wet on her neck and breasts. It´d probably feel as good as then; maybe better. He was driving her body crazy. It was too much. That wasn´t the reason why she came back there. But she just couldn´t stop her eyes from ogling his jawbone, his delicious unshaved jaw; lined, masculine jaw. She sensed herself turning red and had to divert her gape before doing something stupid. But his fingers. _Oh God_, his touch felt delicious.

And then… cold. He had pulled away; she looked troubled, like it wasn´t a good idea, touching her like that. He was clueless to the fact that she was troubled because she was struggling with the impulse to slam their mouths together in a passionate kiss.

-xx-

Wet dreams weren´t a normal thing forEmma; but that was the hue of the dreams she had had since a year ago. Noisy, stirred, exciting dreams. Not every night, but certainly more regularly than normal.

And now, New York was firing up her most secret desires. She´d meet Will and then that night dream about him. He´d talk to her and share intimate thoughts during daylight, and she´d dream he kissed her. He´d take her hand and brushed her hair when the cold wind would blow it away, and she´d dream his hands were underneath her clothes. He´d kiss her cheeks goodbye after having a cup of coffee and she´d dream he made love to her. On her bed, back in Lima; on his couch, in the back seat of the car he had driven her to the Hospital. It was crazy, really.

-xx-

"I really like what you´ve done here", Emma glanced through his kitchen and all the casseroles dishes and frying pans hanging decoratively above the island.

"It was too big just for myself", he mentioned calmly, pouring hot water in two cups.

"Then why did you get it in the first place?" was her curious query.

"I don´t know… Guess the view was really something. I almost moved once. It made no sense paying the service charge if I wasn´t really using the place. But now Sonia's here.. It´s perfect"

"It is… It´s homey. Homier than the last time I was here". _Why are you bringing that up_?

"That was when I almost moved". _It reminded me of you_.

He didn't mean to make her heart to ache that much, "Maybe you should have", she was kind and he shook his head.

_It reminded me of you_. "I didn´t want to"

"Why?" her eyes searched for something, anything to explain the sting in her chest.

"Because, erm…Sonia would come", he lied and blushed and Emma got the message right away.

"Do you…", their eyes met and she asked shyly, "Do you want to come with me?"

"Where?"

"Someplace else"

"Yes", _I´d go with you anywhere_.

-xx-

"Will, you´re drunk!",Emma laughed loudly, holding him still to prevent his fall.

"Then catch me!", he was loud while speaking. The wine had certainly had its effects on and other friends had taken off already, and Will wouldn´t tidy the place until next morning. The only person remaining was Shannon, but she had passed out on the couch ten minutes ago. And Will looked utterly drunk, crashing into every single piece of furniture on his way to the kitchen.

"Ok, come here, mister", she giggled wrapping her arm around his waist, "let´s take you to bed before you break something", he chuckled and supported his weight on her shoulder, "How much did you drink?"

"Don´t know…", he hadn´t had much wine, actually. But wine stimulated him. It made him ridiculously clumsy, and inhibited.

"You´re gonna be a mess tomorrow", was her cute reprimand while entering his bedroom and positioning him on the bed, "I´ll bring you an aspirin"

"Bathroom cabinet", he mumbled scrolling his cellphone senselessly.

She came back a few moments later, with a glass of water and a pill; his body semi-collapsed on the mattress, "Here…", cupping the back of his neck, Emma pulled him up, "One big gulp"; he almost chocked on the water when seeing her focused expression, "Don´t laugh at me!"

"Sorry", was his between coughs apology.

He was about to crack up and Emma teased him, "Don´t play smart". She made him sit straight and slide his shoes off and they stared at each other long, hard. _What, are you going to undress him_?, "You, uhm, you should get under the covers"

"Yeah…", he peeled his shirt above his head and tossed it nearby.

He was so sculpted, Emma couldn´t avoid staring. His pecs, firm, defined so… _Uugh_. "Where are your pjs?", was her nervous falter.

"I don´t weeear pjsss"

"Oh…", _Holy Crap_. "Ok, why don´t you get inside?", his fingers unbuttoned his jeans and Emma gulped hard, "I´ll-I´ll leave you to get-", pants off, "Will, get inside", she begged pulling the covers so he could skate inside them.

"Do you wear pjs,Emma?", was his clumsy question when pulling off his socks.

"No", _Why are you even replying?_

"You sleep in your underwear, like me?"

She cleared her throat, "Will, lay down"

"Pjs are so uncomfortable", he informed her as if he was talking about the weather, folding his socks to hurl them where his shoes had landed, "that´s why I don´t use them. I get hot… Do you get hot,Emma?"

"Uhm, sometimes"; _Now, for instance. Shut up and leave_.

"What do you do when you get hot?"; he seemed to be teasing her.

"I lose the blanket", she said, guiding his legs to rest on the bed. _.stare_.

"And if it doesn´t help?"

"It does help", that would shush him up.

"You´re acting weird", he sentenced tranquil.

"I´m not", she covered his chest with the thick feather blanket.

"Are you drunk too?" maybe that´d explain why was she acting so shy.

"No"

"Shame. You´d have let the cat out of the bag", she couldn´t prevent a giggle from flying out, "I´m right! We could have a drink", he sat back up, determinate to serve up a drink to her and make Emma talk. The blankets fell off, revealing once again his perfect chest.

"Will, lay down", she ordered again, pushing him gently down on the bed.

His hand grasped hers, "You´re acting weird"

"I´m not. I´m just trying to get you in bed"

"Anything else?"

"No", thank goodness it was dark, that way he´d miss the blush on her cheeks.

"You´re lying Emma Pillsbury", his face was now close to hers and she swallowed.

"I´m not lying", she coughed.

"You´re thinking about something"

"I´m always thinking about something"

"What are you thinking about now?", his fingers interlocked with hers. Hot skin under hers.

"I´m thinking why aren´t you getting in bed and letting me go home", she declared rationally.

"Because I want to talk to you"

"About?"

"You"

"Me?"

"Yes. I´ve been wondering something…"

"What?"

"What did you do when you read my letter?"

"I read it again", it was logic.

"And then?", he encouraged her.

"Then I cried"

"You cried?", the hold on her hand tightened.

"Yes"

"Why did you cry?"

"Because of what you said in it. Because you were sorry and I had bad feelings towards you and because I treated you so bad the night we…"

"Do you think about that night?", she didn´t answer, "I do… sometimes"

"What do you think about it?"

"Don´t divert the subject", he teased allowing his body to plunge in the mattress again, "We´re talking about you"

Her lips pursed a smile, and she sat on the edge of the bed, "Will… Why don´t you go to sleep?"

"I can´t sleep if someone´s watching", he observed holding back a snicker.

"Then let me go and I´ll leave", he had been treasuring her hand between his and his heart.

"No", Emma laughed, "Lay by me and tell me something"

"So I can bore you to sleep?", she grinned at him trying to pull away, but he only held her securely.

"You´d never bore me".

Obeying some sort of preposterous alter-ego Emma climbed on the other side of the bed. The mattress went down under her weight; she was tense. What was she doing? Maybe he´d fall asleep soon and she could run out of there.

"I thought you told me you sleep in your underwear", he teased her mischievously and Emma smacked his shoulder.

"Pervert!", _I´d take my clothes for you if you ask me to_. "I´m not sleeping. I´m just lying here"

"Busted", he laughed at himself and reallocated his body to face her. "So, are you gonna tell me something?"

"I don´t know what to tell you…", it was true. Every little word coming her head was silly. There were things she didn´t understand about him. Why had he asked her to lay with him, for instance. Why his fingers had lingered on her skin days ago. He teased her sometimes and then his eyes hooded for slight moments. Perhaps that was the way he was with his friends… And he wanted to be her friend. Or that was what he had said…

His mind was clear; maybe it was her presence or the little alcohol he had had; but he was alert, "I´m glad you´re here", she turned her eyes to him, "To have the chance to talk to you without making you feel like crap"

"Yeah…", her body relaxed and crossed her legs, "You… you´re a sweet man, Will", her fingers found the hem of her blouse and began toying with it. He made her so modest sometimes. And yet so daring. That was when she supported the weight of her body on her elbow to face him.

He yawned as his hand seemed to have a mind on its own, because soon it was slithering to the small curve of her waist, "You have big eyes", he quoted himself; his voice was hoarse as a sudden drowsiness plagued him.

She smiled and intended to mock him, "Is that a compliment, an insult, an observ-"

"It was always a compliment"

_A/N: As you could read in last chapter and in this one, I´m diverting myself a little from "Pride and Prejudice" argument. The essence will be the same, but i don´t think following faithfully the old argument makes much sense as the story is settled in the present. What do you think so far? Reviews are lovley!_


	12. Chapter 12

**New update! I just wanna thank Becca for helping me all the way and her contribution to this chapter! I loved it, hun!**

**Aggie**

**XII**

Maybe she could lengthen her visit in New York. Leaving seemed like such a depressing concept, especially now that her relationship with Will had blossomed so much. Shannon almost began bouncing when the redhead announced the last news; they hadn´t spent much time alone since Shannon had to keep working up until the day before Christmas Eve.

"I want to get something cute for Daniel", Emma sentenced while lazing in her friend´s living room.

"Tryin´ to buy Sonia off?", Shannon mocked her between chuckles. She had seen her sleeping on his bed a few nights ago, his arm snaked around her waist, their toes brushing slightly. But she hadn´t said a word. Not to Emma, at least.

"What?" she looked shocked yet amused, "I like Sonia… she´s very nice…"

"She is, she is…" She nodded and took a sip of her coffee.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing… Ya seem to be gettin´ along with Will…" her eyebrow cocked and smiled.

"He´s… he´s not what I thought", she simply put and shunned her friend´s blue-ish eyes. His letter was oblivious to her.

"What made ya change your mind?" she was curious now. If she didn´t know Emma she´d say she was hiding something.

"You…" Emma sighed; Shannon had no idea and wondered how much was too much to say, "Shan, do you know Daniel´s dad?"

"No idea… only know he flew… I understand he was some random guy…" she scratched her forehead, wondering where Emma was going with that.

"Didn´t you ever wonder why Will kicked Carl out?"

"Carl broke up with Sonia", she wasn´t really getting it.

Emma raised her eyebrow in acknowledgment and nodded, "And Sonia gives birth 26 weeks later…" Shannon´s eyes widened, "It wasn´t just her pregnancy what upset Will… it was everything"

"How do you…"

"Will told me"

"What? When? He never mentioned-"

"He wrote a letter"

"I´m listening…"

"The day we… remember?" Emma blushed intensely and her friend nodded, "He came here and gave me a letter. Explaining everything"

"What´s '_everything_'?", Shannon inquired leaning forward. In a few words, Emma explained the letter´s content, omitting certain intimate details. She didn´t give her friend any indication of her feelings towards Will. It was embarrassing, after everything she had said about him, and she certainly didn´t want Shannon to go talk to him. They were not 15.

-xx-

Will´s apartment door almost knocked down under Shannon´s insistence fists.

The woman was outraged when stepping in, demanding an explanation about his lack of communication in the past year.

He told her everything, despite of how much he loathed speaking like that about his friend´s friends. But this was Shannon; and it was a peculiar situation. She kept silent most of the time, occasionally nodding or puckering her lips, a signal of her careful listening.

"I only have two things to mention…" Will glanced at her, "You told Emma first-"

"Shannon, I-"

"And ya brought Sonia to live with ya… that has to mean something….Ya´re so into her, aren´t you?"

"I just wanted to apologize", he justified himself with the lamest excuse, "I was an ass… You know it. We´ve never spoke about it, but I know you thought I was a moron for what happened between her and me. I think so too…" he didn´t mean in the way his friend formulated it.

"Are ya saying that what happened between you and Emma was a mistake?"

"No!" _asshole_, "I mean, erm, not like-"

"You´re crazy about her!", Shannon laughed and smacked her own knees, "I should have known"

His denial wasn´t bought. As much as he shook his head and tried to explain himself, the brightness in his eyes gave him away.

Sometimes, he wondered what would happen if he actually followed his instincts, his heart, and tell Emma everything. About his letter, about how he still felt the same; about the dreams he had had about her, about them together at night, making love.

Back then it had sounded creepy; now, a year after, it´d probably sound even creepier. He wondered how much he could handle with the notion of holding back. He had said he wanted to start from zero with her, to get to know her. But the truth was, he didn´t need to know what her favorite color was, or what her favorite song was to know her. Everything he needed to know had been revealed to him in just one month, back in Lima. Her honesty, her commit, her kind-heartened spirit. The rest was just superfluous; he could find it out any other day.

How much did she want? She´d leave; was it worth it exposing her to an unsettling situation? Was it worth exposing himself to rebuff? It had been bitter, he had tasted it.

He had foreseen this would happen; that he could only have stronger feelings towards her after every single minute they spent together. But he should have remembered it instead caving into her amber eyes and timid smile. Emma was adorable. She made everything so tough sometimes.

She lured him; that night under the pergola… She could have pushed him away and instead she had breathed sharply. That night at his place; she could have put him in bed and gone back to Shannon´s; she could have cuffed his cheek for daring to touch her like that. Instead, she shuffled a little closer and fell asleep by his side.

She´d surely leave before New Year; there were probably people calling for her back in Lima. He´d call for her every day, but that wouldn't be appropriate. What right did he have to demand for her company? None, actually. But she was always there. He always asked for it and Emma always accepted.

"I like it, Em… very much", she looked at him, slightly startled, "what?"

"My granny used to call me that"

"I´m sorry… Didn´t mean to step the li-"

"It´s ok. I don´t mind…", her gape lowered to the bag she was opening, a light smile crossed her lips, "It's just been a long time since anyone has called me that. I missed it", he grinned at her, "So, you think this is gonna fit Daniel?" a little jean overall was displayed on the kitchen´s island.

"Yup. Definitely. He´s tiny…" he sentenced measuring the length of the legs and nodding.

"He´s so cute. Where are they? Thought Sonia would be here by now", she folded the little outfit and laid it neatly back in the colored bad.

"They got here yesterday. But she´s at a friend´s house", he placed a cup of coffee in front of her and sat on one of the stools, "And you? Do you have your plane ticket already?"

"I´m not leaving until the 3rd", she was blushing, very subtly, but Will didn´t miss it.

"Really?" his voice sounded cheerier. _One week. One more week_. "But New Year´s-"

"I asked Shannon if I could stay with her a little longer… and she said yes", the coffee was hot as it trickled down her throat, "I happen to like New York". The knot in his throat loosened when she said that; he´d miss her if she left. He´d miss having her around so often. Going to his rehearsals would even harder now that she had so little time left in the city, and he was locked inside some dark theater.

"You could come join us if you want", he invited politely, "And I'm glad you gave New York a second chance", they weren´t talking about the city. It was obvious; the spark on their eyes denounced them.

"I´ll ask Shannon if she has plans", her stomach overturned; she would join him without a second thought. "Are there any plays coming soon?" seeing him perform had been one of the most amazing things she had done the last time she visited the city and Emma craved for a chance to see him on stage again.

"Not really… we´re training. But to be honest, I'm tired… and we haven´t even started with the serious stuff"

"Oh… I´m sorry. Maybe you´re going out too much", she mocked him and stood up, "Too much wine, Will. You should rest"

She was leaving. _Don´t go_. "I´m not tired", _Stay_.

His firm voice caused her to turn around. He hadn´t moved from the occupied spot behind the Kitchen´s Island, but his upper body was leant forward.

"It´s late", she whispered softly, "I can come tomorrow if you want". _Ask me to stay_.

_I want you to. I want you. Don´t go_. "We could go for a walk"

"I´d like that", she smiled and attached her beret on her head.

He walked her out, "I´ll call you", it was dawning when they went downstairs, "You sure you know how to get to Shannon´s?"

"Yes", she giggled; his concern made her chest engorge. "Bye, Will", a lingering kiss on his cheek, a soft squeeze on his hand and she walked away.

-xx-

The new snowfall had scared them away from the Central Park and Will had gallantly offered his home as a refugee from the cold outside. He´d made Emma cocoa and showed her his most recent acquisition.

But as she walking around she was haunted by the hottest most graphic images, they irrupted in her mind; the door where he had grinned at her, the couch where he had tossed her blouse after ripping it off of her body. She closed her eyes.

_Images out_.

It wasn´t the first time she had been in his place. But it was the first time she had such vivid flashbacks. Maybe caused by his warm cheek under her lips the previous day, or his hand sneaking around her waist when pulling her close him, under a bakery shelter, to protect her from the copious snow falling.

He told her about an investment he had made; it was a café shop a few blocks away. He´d show her the place if the weather allowed. It was nice talking to him like that, so relaxed. He was charming actually, more charming than she thought he could be. He was funny as well and her laughs were contagious.

He adored the way she covered her mouth to avoid bursting out. She told him about the Community Center and the new singing club they were organizing.

And then his cell buzzed on the little table by her side. He stretched to reach it and remained leaning forward while answering. She was still, he was so close, and she was watching him.

"No, she´s with me", it was Shannon.

"Hey, Shannon!" she came closer to speak on the device and giggled.

"What? We´re having cocoa", she stayed there looking absolutely gorgeous; her eyes were so rare from such a short distance. And his were deep and penetrating when locking with hers. "You can join us", he said rather monotonically; she was too close. Jasmines. Her mouth, pink and glossy. _Gosh_. "Ok, I´ll walk her, don´t worry"

Amber never left hazel when he hung up. And then silence. He wasn´t sitting back in his place. And their noses brushed and her chin lowered.

Embarrassed? Not really. Emma was worked up. Her lips ghosted his chin and his breath stucked in his throat. She moved her mouth across his jaw line, slowly, planting feather kisses there. That was all he could hear, her kisses and the air coming out her mouth so very lightly.

"Emma…" her name was a groan when leaving his lungs and she smiled on his skin and brushed upward captured his earlobe between her teeth. He was warm and his cologne… God, it was luscious.

Her hands on his heart, a grin on her lips; he could sense it… He pulled away and buried his face in her neck; her hot, slim and tempting neck. She leaned it to the right, giving him more flesh to adore and his mighty hand bent it even more. Her skin was sweet under his tongue; soft, delicious… he just wanted to burry himself in her and die there.

She was panting, her eyes rolled back, running her fingers through his curls, bringing him closer if possible, urging him in for more… _More_.

And then she captured his lips, rather fast, before he´d pull away. They kissed, long, hard, bringing back old memories they had secreted for so long. And then his tongue brushed her lower lip and she bobbed her head, deepening the kiss. His flesh paddled with hers with vigor, their breaths labored.

The top buttons of his shirt succumbed under her skillful fingers. He was already hovering over her when she did that, and hadn´t even realized how he got there. She was tiny under his large hands; her heavy breath was hot against his face and he returned to the spot he had been moments ago, his nose sweeping the fabric of her blouse aside letting himself rejoice with the creamy skin there.

She moaned lightly when his teeth grated softly the silver chain adorning her body and the flesh on its sides. The sensations were toe-curling; his hands creeping beneath her top, her thighs brushing his straddling hips. Emma shifted below him, letting him rest his entire weight on top of her.

His name came out in the lowest murmured sigh; her belly was warm under his touch; his was burning under hers. She craved for more skin, to see his shirt chucked somewhere far, instead of veiling his body from her eyes.

Will had never used tight jeans and it was easy for her to glide her hand in its front and cup him. He pulled away from her cleavage and looked at her, eyes broadened; her teeth chewing her lower lips, blush spread all across her face.

"Emma…" he mumbled hoarsely when she moved to the spot where his jaw began. She wasn´t stopping; it was like her name had encouraged her even more; her hand, slowly stroking his desire for her. "Em, wait"

She pulled away, eyes widened, lips puffed, and gulped. "Ok"

"We… we don´t have a good record when it comes to _this_…" he had no idea how to tell her he didn´t want things to come out like that. He wasn´t looking for sex. But she´d leave eventually and her closeness was much desired; needed.

She was puzzled; he had been the one who was practically making love to her neck seconds ago. Maybe… maybe there was someone else. Of course there was… Any women would throw herself in his arms… She certainly would. She already had actually and Emma blushed.

"Yeah…", if he was or wasn´t dating someone, she didn't want to find out. Being the third in the party didn´t sound too appealing and she preferred to die before knowing it to be true, "Sorry"

"Don´t apologize", he regained his previous position, a few inches away from her and buttoned his shirt back up, "I didn´t mean to instigate this…" _You did, you deliberately did; and now you´re rejecting her_.

"I know… It just… happened", she combed her hair and straightened in her seat, "maybe I should go…"

"No, wait…" she would leave and everything would return to what it used to be again; he didn´t want that indeed, "I don´t know if we should… rush in to something like that…"

"Yes…" _what does he expect me to say_? The whole situation seemed to be inevitable to a point. But maybe… "I thought- I thought you found me attractive-"

"I do! You´re _very_ beautiful", _you hurt her. You hurt her, moron_.

"You´re very attractive too", she gulped, nervous; she had never said such thing, "we, uhm… it´s obvious we´re attracted to each other. I mean, Will..." she cleared her throat, "You didn't have to stop touching me. I never pushed you away…"

Their eyes locked; dark, cloudy eyes. And they shortened the gap between them, clutching in each other´s arms firmly. An open mouthed kiss and jagged breathing all over again; it was like recreating the one night they had spent together. Only this time, it ached.

It ached even more when plunging together on his bed, the same old familiar feeling of the sheets enveloping her body. His lips travelled down her naked chest to her belly and up again to indulge her nipples, her name escaping them occasionally and her back arched.

"Will…" she was writhing beneath him, his arousal pressing between her legs, barely moving. And she wanted more… "I need you inside me"

He chuckled, letting his hand trail to her lace panties to tease her heated nub of nerves, "Can´t you wait a little?"

She bit her bottom lip, eyes rolling back her head, "O-okay"

Her underwear failed in veiling her need for him. She was soaking, and he smiled against her lips. "Em…"

She panted and slid her tongue in his mouth. He was making it so hard; so she rolled them over and straddled him; all her chest, her nudity in front of his adoring and lustful eyes.

"Let´s do this", she mumbled rotating her hips on his, "Please let´s do this"; for a moment it was afflicting; knowing that would be all they could have, that she´d leave and nothing else would be said about it.

He wouldn´t ask her if she was sure. She was a big girl. She knew what she was doing. But he… he had no idea. The only thing he had resolved was that he wanted to be with her. And if that meant for only one night... so be it. He´d rather have that than nothing at all.

He felt her bare flesh on him and all her warmth around him, slick, inviting, tight. Her mouth parted, eyes locked with his. The sensation was marvelous. "Emma…" he groaned raising his upper body to hold her in his arms.

Her thighs wrapped around his waist and rocked forward and whined, "Oh…" her ribs were balmy under his palms, his lower half moved back and forth, meeting her steady rhythm; friction was unbearable.

She sucked on his pulse point, the air left her mouth, small, choppy; and Will groaned, roughly, "Emma…", she pulled away and kissed him, hard, vigorously; her small breasts tortured by his adept fingers, her nipples pinched between them.

She moaned, her insides clamping around him, his tongue running across her throat, earlobe, pushing her right to the edge. "Uugh, Will…" her back arched and he only kept her closer, as the tremors began.

The pressure around his manhood was excruciating, but he wasn´t there yet; the sounds she was making, God, were taking him so close. So he flipped them over and buried himself inside her, deep, intensely, and she cried his name, her toes pushing him deeper into her.

It was the longest orgasm she had ever had; her head was spinning, giddy, the back of her neck was damp and he was ramming against her; her name falling off his lips as her quavers sent him right to the peak.

He tensed and growled hoarsely when spilling inside her, his grip tightening around her hips; she was still dangling on her second climax and he rotated himself in her until he felt her shake and hum.

They laid for moments, the blanket he had thrown on them covering their slightly sweated bodies. Jagged breathing was all they could hear.

Emma gulped and Will sighed; she was so beautiful underneath him, and felt so perfect.

"I´ll, erm, I´ll be right back", he spoke softly pulling away and going to the bathroom.

"Ok", he´d go to wash himself and dispense the condom they had used on that occasion.

It took him a couple of minutes to return and he was surprised to see that Emma was clipping her bra back on, "Shannon´s probably waiting for me", she explained collecting her curls into a loose ponytail, her arched back to him.

Will had to grasp his own hand to stop himself from reaching for the perfect curve of her behind. "Are you sure? I could make you-"

"I am", she smiled at him and pulled her pants back on, "It´s late", it was actually. They had been rocking together for more than an hour.

Before she knew what was happening he was crashing against her, pinning her between himself and the wall, his lips sucking possessively on her pulse point. "Don't go." It was more than a plea and he reinforced it by picking her up, cupping her ass in his hands and urging her legs around his waist. He kissed and sucked every place he could reach and when it wasn't enough they were once again on the bed.

"Will…" she was panting, his passion was overwhelming. "I really need to go."

"Don't" he moved them onto their sides, eyes meeting, conveying emotions neither dared to discuss.

"I can't" the disappointment in her voice matched the look in his eyes.

"Why?" He pulled her closer, fully against his body, enveloping her in his arms.

"Shannon will start asking questions." She heard his sigh of resignation. Neither of them wanted to explain to Shannon what going on between them; mostly because they didn't even know themselves.

"I promised her I would walk you home. So I'm walking you home." He pulled back planting a light kiss on her lips.

"Will, you don't have to. I'll be fine on my own." She started to dress, Will helping her button her blouse.

"I want to."

The walk back home was silent. After a few blocks of silent strolling, the warmth of his hand found hers and he slid the joining inside his coat pocket. She said nothing when feeling his thumb caressing the back of her cold hand and wished they were walking across some quiet village instead of through the lightened streets of New York. That way she would conceal the pink that spread over her already rosy face.

"Are you…?" he was tentative whiles peaking, "Will you tell me what you think?"

She gulped and began slowly, "I´m not sure what I'm thinking right now". Her neck was rose-colored after all the kisses he had planted there.

He noticed it, "Shit… I", his hand moved to cup her nape and suspended their march right in Shannon´s front door to examine the insignia of his desire for her, "Shan´s gonna notice this…"

"I´ll cover them up", she whispered locking eyes with him.

"Ok…" he sighed, "Em, listen-"

"Don´t worry, Will", she was soft and kind while interrupting him, "I, uhm, I really like what we did", a shy smile casting her features. She didn´t look upset, not happy either. "You were very… intense", she breathed that last word, "I don´t want you to think this is affecting us in anyway", _Bullcrap, you´re already so affected by it_.

"Of course not", it was like being kicked right in his face.

"Thank you", she kissed the corner of his mouth and he moved his face to make her shoot right. She smiled against his lips, "Bye, Will"

"I´ll see you", he muttered when she opened the door to Shannon's and reminded her, "New Year´s Eve"

"You bet", a wide smile and a wave of her hand. "Bye…"

It was the most bizarre moment of the winter recess.

_:D So? Thoughts?_


	13. Chapter 13

**This is coming to its end… Not there yet, but shortly. I wanna thank Becca for her amazing suggestion and contribution in this chapter as well. 3**

**Also, wanna let you know I´m leaving for ten days so next update will be here on Sunday the 20th. Please be patient and coment! Your reviews make my day :) **

**Aggie**

**XIII**

"How´s Sam?" he had been wondering about the girl for quite some time now.

"She´s very well… Studying",Emmasmiled and added, "She´s going to Community College and working part time"

"Wow", he was impressed, "that´s great, really great"

"The baby´s fine. Her name isMonica"

"I guess she did have a chance"

Emmaknew what he meant and nodded, "She did. She has a lot of help, tho", she had been too hard on him, "I don´t know if she could have made all that without any"

He caught her implicit apology and grinned.

"Sonia´s very lucky to have you, Will. Very lucky indeed", the little spoon in the cup stirred the hot infusion. She was embarrassed for coming off so honest, especially after what had happened the previous day.

"I don´t know how much truth there is to that", he joked trying to lighten the atmosphere, "I´m driving her insane"

Emmalaughed, "Don´t be too hard on her"

"I´m not. But I don´t wanna pamper her either"

"Where are your parents?" she realized he had never mentioned then.

"They died"

"Oh, Will… I´m sorry, I didn´t mean-"

"It´s ok. It was long time ago; whenSoniawas 8"

"Oh, Gosh…" she looked at him apologetically, "I´m so sorry. Did-did your aunts take care of her?" he nodded, "and who took care of you?" she asked worried and he couldn´t help but chuckle at her cuteness.

"I was 23, Em; almost finishing college and performing already"

"So?" she didn´t see what the problem was, "Everybody needs someone to take care of them"

She was absolutely adorable and he had to fight with the impulse of taking her in his arms and kissing her like she had never been kissed. But they had agreed not to be affected by what happened. "I was fine. I had friends and a lovely girlfriend. They helped me. A lot actually"

"So you did have people who took care of you…" she loved when he portrayed himself self-sufficient and yet vulnerable.

"I did", he smiled admitting defeat.

"Good. How…" she trailed, "How did it happen?"

"Car accident",Emmalowered her gaze, "Drunken truck driver. He rammed in to them"

"Geez, I´m so sorry… I-I don´t even know why I´m bringing this up. I´m so-"

"I don´t mind", he took her hand the minute she passed by his side. Their interlocked hands were a vision of rightness. _I want you to know everything about me_.

"You want to tell me?"

"Yes"

"Ok"

He directed her to the couch; her contagious giggles elicited a snicker out of him.

And he told her. About his childhood and college; she had done that and narrated it to him. About fights and police escapades while being drunk; she had never done that and laughed loud. About love and affairs; she had had several, while being adults and none of them had worked out. About loneliness and silences; she was alone now too, was her low declaration. About regrets and opportunities; she had plenty of both. And he mentioned her too; andEmmasmiled and he kissed her cheek. She mentioned him as well.

-xx-

New Year was spent at Shannon´s. After discussing it extensively, Will resigned and agreed to make her place the reunion location. He warned it´d be crowded, but the woman was bound and determinate to do it there. Her balcony was bigger, she had claimed teasingly.

That night, Will proved to be right. Her living room was teeming with people; it was crowded, really crowded and noisy. But that didn't keep Sonia and Daniel away. The girl was enchanted with Emma and decided to discover what it was about her that had marveled her brother.

They talked as much as they could, co-hosting a reunion with fifty guests wasn´t an easy task. She had been running from here to there since 8.

"Hey", Will´s voice called her attention.

"Hi!" She smiled when first seeing him, "When did you get here?" he certainly hadn´t arrived with Sonia.

"About 30 minutes ago…"

"I didn´t see you come", there was a light color on her cheeks.

"That´s because you were carrying trays and food", he mocked graciously, helping her with the turkey snacks; he had seen her walking busily through the crowd of people. He had also seen one of Shannon´s friends trying to hit on her. He almost threw his glass at the man and had to resist the urge to drag Emma into the closet for a make out session; where he could mark her as his.

"Thanks", she sensed his eyes on her, his fingers brushed hers when gently taking the tray off her hands. They hadn't seen each other since that afternoon, two days ago, and Emma knew the reason. At some point it was awkward. Highly awkward and demoralizing. But she knew what she had done and the consequences it´d bring. She had craved him for so long, but the aftermath had left a bittersweet taste on her mouth.

"Do you…" he pursued in a low voice, "Are you ok?"

"Yes, very", she nodded looking confident, "You?"

"Perfect"

"Good"

"I thought…" he said with caution again, "you´d be…" her eyes distracted him.

"Yes?"

"Nothing, don´t worry", he shook his head, "We´re ok?"

"Yes", he noticed how white her teeth were when she smiled widely.

"Good. I´ll take this to the table", he left. A sting on his heart, a knot on his stomach. For a moment she had looked troubled. It was funny in some way, when one of his most frequent dreams came true, and then facing it in daylight. The feeling wasn´t as satisfying as he´d have thought. But it had been sex. Gentler than the first time; yet sex. Not as reckless or as rough, but still brief and impersonal. He´d have traded it for cuddling instead. But he knew it´d be like that, or he should have known. Her explicit words had revealed someone with conviction. 'We´re attracted to each other', damn right; or they wouldn´t have slept together in the first place. He was a little more than attracted to her. And she… she seemed to have developed some sort of affection toward him. But the signals were confusing; he couldn´t quite catch what she meant by them.

After a while, he spotted her sitting on the couch, with Daniel on her lap, cheerfully talking to Sonia. The girl was deeply focused on what she was saying while his nephew played with the hem of her dress sleeve. His eyelids were threatening to close.

"Hey, little buddy", he spoke to Daniel, supporting his weight on the back of the couch, "Feeling tired?" the boy yawned and so did Sonia.

"I better take him to bed"

"I can do it if you want", the redhead offered kindly, standing up and holding the boy securely in her arms, "Go have a drink, you look dead"

"Really? Are you-"

"Yes, go. Will, why don´t you serve your sister a drink?" she teased him walking through the corridor.

Once inside the isolated room, she rocked Daniel´s little body, humming a lullaby and brushing his dark hair. The sound of loud chats filled the room when the door opened and closed almost immediately.

"Hey", Will whispered walking to her back and speaking above her shoulder, "I brought his bottle"

"He doesn´t look hungry", Emma spoke in a murmur but smiled when the boy clutched to the warm bottle and sucked its content. "Ok, he is hungry. Thanks", he caressed the boy´s pointy noise, his eyes beginning to close, "He´s so so cute"

"He is… I see some resemblance with Carl", it was the first time he mentioned the boy´s father.

"I don´t. Only his hair, but he has more of Sonia and your eyes", Will gazed at her, the darkness didn´t allow him to fully catch her expression, but by the tone of her voice he could tell she was smiling.

He moved closer, the perfume of her shampoo was intoxicating. Her whole persona was. And he breathed her in, his nose slightly brushing the shell of her ear.

Her eyelids flickered and wheezed. Her neck was burning. And then his lips set her on fire. Feather light kisses behind her ear and down her neck to reach the border of her cleavage. His chest firmly pressed on her back, holding her still by her hips when her knees wobbled.

"I haven´t told you how beautiful you look tonight", he whispered so low she could barely hear him.

"Will…" her voice was foreign; a plea for him to stop and continue.

"Yes?" his palms moved along her waist to go rest on her lower belly, as his mouth continued its assault on her neck. Her chest involuntarily rose and Will couldn't stop his hands from sneaking between the thick fabric and her delightful skin. The lace of her bra was soft under his fingertips.

"You should stop", she panted heavily when finally her mind began working again. Daniel was stirring up.

"I, erm", his breath was hot against her mouth, "I better leave you and check on Sonia"

"Yes…" His grip tightened on her waist. He didn't have any intention of leaving her. His fingers rubbing slow circles on her skin, his face buried in her neck. "Will, someone is going to come looking for you." Her body ached for him, but her rational side could not deal with a guest or worst his Sister walking in on them like this.

"You really do look beautiful tonight." His arms loosened and she felt cold, the sound of the party heightening and then quieting as he left the room.

She returned to the party a few minutes later. Shannon was in the middle of the living room, urging people to start dancing as it was almost 12. Emma shook her head when her friend waved at her, as an invitation to join the dancing couples. But her feet dragged her out to the balcony where some men where smoking and looking above for some missing fireworks. The ceiling of the city occasionally would shine when some premature person lit a cracker to tease the observers. For seconds the sky was dotted with green and white sparkles.

"Hey", Will´s hand rested on her lower back for an instant, a signal for some of Shannon´s friends who were looking at her quite interested.

"Hi", his hand only reminded her how good his patting felt.

He offered a drink and stood by her side, "Enjoying the view?"

"I was hoping to see some fireworks"

"Patience. You have no idea what a great view you have from here"

She smiled and finally dared to look at him, "Really?"

"Yes, it´s one of the most perfect places in town. See there?" he pointed to the back side of Central Park, "that´s where most of people light their fireworks"

"Wow…" she looked around, breathing peacefully, "I´m so glad I stayed", he smiled tenderly and she lifted her gaze to him, unconsciously batting her eyelashes, "So tell me. How on earth did you get Sonia in to NYU?"

"Oh… the guy who works in admission used to be in my study group. I called him and when he found out she was my sister, he put her application form on top of the pile"

"That´s very sweet of you"

"You inspired me", she blushed so very deep, he just wanted to hold her forever. And maybe pull her back in a dark room and slide his hands underneath her white fitting dress.

"What else have you done?" she was coy while asking, missing the lust in his eyes, "You haven´t really told me about work"

"Erm…" he considered his next words; how much was too much; he didn´t want her to think his past actions were meant to win her back. "We´re doing some shows in a small theater"

Her forehead wrinkled in confusion, "I thought you were at Broadway…"

"We are.. we just, erm, added some shows to our schedules…"

"What´s with the mystery?" she smiled widely, "Tell me"

"It´s a small theater where kids take classes"

If adoration couldn´t describe the look on her face, nothing could. "You´re doing charity work?"

"Y-yeah", he rubbed the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed.

"Will that´s-that´s so noble of you. You have no idea how much those kids must appreciate what you´re doing…"

"You taught me that"

Her jaw practically dropped. "I did?" she was stammering, the butterflies in her stomach proved to be too much, "I- I didn´t-"

"You did", he took a step forward, "You´re an extraordinary woman, Emma".

_Kiss me. Kiss me and stop talking_. Her eyes were wide, enormously wide. She knew he wouldn´t, she had told him she didn´t want to deal with explanations. But god, she wanted him to hold her.

5...4...3...2...1... HAPPY NEW YEAR! Auld Lang Syne began playing. Cheers, claps, yells and booms all around. But the only thing Emma could focus on was his eyes. Deep, piercing, dark eyes.

"Happy New Year", _you could kiss her. Kiss her. It's what people do. Is what you want to do. Kiss her. _

"Hap-"

His smooth lips shushed her. Slow, tenderly.

She wasn´t expecting it. Maybe a hug or a kiss on the cheek. But it broke her heart. She should be happy, she was madly in love with him, but instead her heart was shredded.

A puff, weak smile and she finally collected her thoughts and words came her way, "Happy New year"

"You too", _You took it too far by grasping her waist like that_. She looked uncomfortable and she licked her lips.

"Hey, look!" someone called.

The fireworks had begun.


	14. Chapter 14

**Last chapter! But plan to add an epilogue (containing smut since many of you requested it; lol) to clarify a couple of things. So hold your horses! :D**

**XIV**

The veil which had covered her eyes and directed her actions had fallen and she had been seeing clearly for some time now. The landscape was clear, really beautiful, and deathly heartbreaking. If she had known her impressions were wrong and regret would shake her bases, she´d probably avoid seeing him again. But Emma couldn´t help it. His presence was magnetic, like being pulled from every fiber of her body to wherever place he was. It was almost compulsive, actually. Her chest swelled under the spell of his eyes, her palms sweated and tickled, whilst her heart wringed. Maybe she should stop seeing him and push him away every time his hands jammed her between his body and the wall or the kitchen counter. She tried, really, rejecting him, removing herself from his grasp, claiming that someone would come. It was true. Sonia or Shannon could see them. And Emma was proud to accept her judgment had been wrong; and she was even more proud to admit her heart beat furiously against her chest every time his silhouette came into view.

But she´d go soon, what was the point of coming clean now? She wouldn´t leave Lima, her work, her girls. And she certainly wouldn´t ask him to go with her. What could he do there? His life was in New York.

But Emma had no idea.

"I judged you harshly, Will", she confessed, leaving her shyness aside, one day before leaving. She had done nothing but accept his apologies since the moment she set a foot on New York´s ground. His eyes rested on her, but Emma´s didn´t return the gaze; she just looked down, "I thought you were a jerk. The most horrible person I'd ever met"

"Well, I probably was", was his joke.

"Yes. But… I never told you this… Will?", finally their eyes locked, "I think…you're the most wonderful person I´ve ever met." Her words weren´t intended to gain anything from him; only his knowledge. He had adorned her with compliments, and she hadn't done the same for him. But her lips were already shushing her. "Don´t do that," she asked sweetly, "I just wanted you to know", his eyes were piercing. "…I'm leaving tomorrow…"

"I know," he was impassive, the grip around her waist loosened; he was gutted. "Wanna watch a movie? Daniel´s asleep…"

Her eyelids closed even before the plot started to develop. Spending the day walking with Shannon across the crowded streets had left her drained. Shopping in Lima required an hour tops. New York was exhilarating and her high heels boots weren´t made for an entire afternoon of strolling. And Will´s chest was pillowing. His strong arm wrapped her back contentedly and Emma sighed in sleep.

He observed her unperturbed features, snuggling on him, her little hand resting on his chest and comforted smiled lining her lips. He could get used to this. To company. The only company he knew was a nightstand; but she… he could keep her for the rest of his life. He wanted to. Her things all around his house, her hands on his when marching somewhere, the contour of her body next to him in bed.

His cell buzzed and he took the call, quite reluctantly. It was Shannon. She´d be there with Chinese in five.

"Em?" his fingers brushed the curls off her face, and she grimaced in annoyance, eliciting a light chuckle out of him, "Em, doll, you gotta wake up…"

"Five more minutes", she mumbled not willing to get up.

He ginned widely; he could definitely get used to that, "C´mon, baby… wake up", he kissed her nose and she breathed opening her eyes. "There you are…" she blinked several times, trying to focus the images.

He was too close. God, he was making everything so hard.

"Good evening…" he placed a soft peck on her lips and she immediately straightened in her seat.

"How long did I sleep?"

"Almost two hours…" her hasty reaction caught him unaware, "Are you ok?"

"Y-yes, yes… uhm what´s going on?"

"Shannon´s on her way", he rubbed his temple slightly worried about her. Her eyes were the reflection of her soul. And it was a tormented soul, "You don´t look well", her lip was chewed nervously, "What´s going on?"

"Nothing, I'm just a little troubled because of… leaving. I-I´m gonna miss this". _I´m gonna miss you._

"Me too". _Don´t go._

The silence was intolerable. The trace of concealment and longing; sharp, painfully floating between to hungry bodies with so much more to say and give. And ask. They´d be selfish if there was a sign of devotion. They´d be greedy and demand so much.

"You, erm…" he started hesitantly, "Let me fix your hair…" his hand move tentatively to her tangled curls, and although Emma tried to forestall him, Will was faster. "You´re a mess", his hand deliberately brushed her nape, the top of her forehead, and the spot behind her ears. "Much better"

"Thank you", she could only breathe when his hands went to rest on her hips, his face coming closer and ghosted her lips. "Maybe…" her voice interrupted him, "Maybe we should set the table".

She had asked him not to be affected by what had happened, but there he was, his self-governing hands, creeping up and down her body; his mouth assaulting her neck on New Year´s Eve and now, his lips crushing on hers, despite the fact that she had delicately told him not to make a move. She responded, though, fervently and wrapped her arms around his neck. His torso suspended over her now laying body, waiting for a sign; they only had minutes; very few minutes. Her tongue slipped in his mouth. Signal noticed. And his hand submerged underneath her skirt to touch her where he knew she would moan. She gasped instead. Roughly. And bit her lip when his fingers rubbed her core rashly. They had only minutes.

"Will…" her hands gripped his shoulders and stiffed her jagged pants in the crook of his neck. Her panties were a bother, but he took no time to take them off. Moving them aside, he entered her and rowed his palm against her clit. "W-we said…" she struggled to talk properly, but it was nearly impossible, "We s-said we…"

"I know. But I can´t", he kissed her keenly, "I can´t", and then moved to her gullet, sucking the hot skin there. "Come, Emma…" was his hissed, sultry, command on the shell of her ear. "Come…"

"Oh, goodness, Will…" her hips hoisted and he used his weight to press harder on her.

It was over as fast as it had begun. Her sticky body quivered when reaching climax and it collapsed downfallen when it coming down from it.

"Will…", she was still panting when his warm hand abandoned her petticoat.

"You´re leaving tomorrow", he teased her with a peck on her lips, "And I wanted to"

"This wasn´t what we-", a knock on the door prevented her to continue. "I´ll go to the bathroom"

-xx-

"You´re flirting", the plane would take off in four hours. Everything was ready, except for Emma. She was at the end of her tether, holding back so much. And Shannon had noticed her struggling since last night, when they had said goodbye to Will and Sonia. She would get the words out of her, something was up and her friend hadn´t been honest. The words came out with a hint of amusement.

"What? I´m not flirting with Will", Emma looked at her, wondering what had given her away, but determinate to play the fool.

The redhead had talked to a lot of men since she had arrived and Shannon rose her eyebrows, "Who said I was talking about Will?" the room was quiet. Only the sound of the buses reached their ears.

"I, uhm…"

"Gotcha!" A wide smile and a wink.

Emma bit her lips and blushed, "I´m not flirting with him"

"Emma I've known you since you were 16 and you´re flirting"

"I am not! I´m just being nice", she stuck with her patent lie.

"Yeah, right"

"Shan!"

"Emma!" the redhead giggled, "Ya like Will? Wait, let me rephrase that… you have feelings for him"

"No, I don´t!" The woman sent her an acknowledge look and she disregard her friend´s insistence, "You´re being silly… Why would you think I do?"

"For a start, you bat your eyelashes at him-"

"I do not-"

"-and you giggle-"

"-I always giggle-"

"And you play with that strand of hair; and you blush when he compliments you"

"Shan…"

"Pumpkin, there´s nothing wrong with it…", Shannon reassured her, guessing what was troubling her, "It´s pretty obvious…"

"I don´t have feelings for him!", she pretended to be miffed about it but a creak from the door caused them both to turn around in that direction.

"S-sorry, didn´t mean to snoop", _Will_, "I was looking for you, Em. But I´ll come back later". She just knew he wouldn´t.

"Will…" Emma stood up, but he was gone and she looked at Shannon rather desperate.

"Go!"

She rushed through the front door he had left open before disappearing crestfallen, "Will! Will, wait up!" he was already going down the stairs

He stopped and swiveled round, "Yes?"

"Will, I", she breathed and gulped; rushing down two floors had left her winded, "I didn´t mean it like that"

"It´s ok, Emma you don´t have to explain anything to me", he was kind but couldn´t conceal the hurt in his voice.

"Will, listen-"

"Don´t worry, Em, really", at least she had saved him from the embarrassment of being rejected again.

"Can you please hear me out?" Shannon passed by her side, leaving the building, they sure needed some time to talk.

"Ok", his body collapsed on the nearest chair after her pleads to go upstairs, "I´m listening"

She took in a gulp of air and dragged a chair to sit right in front of him, "It´s not like that"

"You don´t have to explain me-"

"Yes! I do!" her voice came out slightly winded up, "I do… You…" she began clumsily, "You were not supposed to hear that", his eyes enlarged with horror, feeling like she was teasing him and she took his hand, "I wasn´t even supposed to be talking with Shannon about that. I, uhm, Will… ", her eyes had never been so bright; "The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. I didn´t mean any of that. You´ve been… so kind and gentle and… handsome to m-"

He shushed her with his mouth and Emma gasped, "Sorry", he stammered, he had comprehend that spontaneous reaction made her uneasy, "I-didn´t mean to cr-", she blinked and stared at him before brushing his lips with hers, "You-you kissed me"

"Y-yeah…", she placed a strand of hair, the strand of hair Shannon had mentioned, behind her ear, "I could… kiss you again if you want to", she looked fragile; for the very first time, she looked like she was about to break and he held her tight against him. Will kissed her so delicately, she could only sigh in his embrace, "I, uhm", she licked her lips, her eyes glossy, "I don´t even know what I´m doing", she had no idea what she would do now. She was leaving.

"Why are you doing it?"

"I´m doing it because all the things you said in your letter and all the things you´ve done here. I do it because of you. Because of the old you and the person I just met, with so much more than it already had".

He smiled at her, genuinely and linked their mouths again. His tongue brushed her upper lip, wetly, slowly and she let him in. They kissed leisurely, actually aware of what was happening; flesh caressing each other's, slow; the breath, hot; her chest engorged, she tilted her head and Will deepened the kiss, holding her closely, her arms trapped amid their chests.

"Emma…" his voice was hoarse against her kissing and lip capturing.

"I know…" it was hot; so hot she felt her cheeks burning, the back of her neck tickling.

His fingers combed her hair; jasmines. And his tongue swept her palate; she was warm and let out a low moan. It proved to be too much, he was bringing her to sit on his lap, his hands running along her sides; hers circling his neck.

"I want you. I want to be with you", was his hot confession on the skin under her chin, "I want you all for myself"

"Yes, ok, yes", she was panting, her chest raising and falling, "I want you too"

"Would you stay?"

"What?"

"Stay"

"Will, I-"

"Don´t go, Emma"

"Will-"

"Stay with me here"

"No", she knew this would come and had no idea how to handle it, "No, I can´t leave my life in Lima"

"I´ll go with you then"

"What?"

"I´ll go with you. Unless you don´t want me to"

"Will… you have a life here. You´ll leave everything?"

"Yes"

"It´s not fair"

"Who says life is fair?", he chuckled, "I want to be with you"; it was so simple.

"I want to be with you too"; it was so complicated.

"Then what´s the problem?"

"You´ll leave everything"

"I can live with that"

"Can you?" she had doubts and wished he had too.

"I have my consolation prize right here", he teased her squeezing her waist, "You realize you don´t really have a choice?", a sideway smile outlined her lips, "I´d go to you anyway. But I need to know…if you´d take me"

She smiled weakly, "Yes. I do take you, yes"


	15. Epilogue

**There was one Little thing i didn´t mention as the story progressed. Maybe some of you were wondering when was this gonna happen… heheh Well, here you go! Enjoy!**

**Aggie**

It took time. Settling things and organizing all his stuff. It took months actually. He couldn´t just move and leave everything in New York, just like that. He had commitments, responsibilities towards the crew and partners.

So he kept a small apartment in the big apple because he would live there a few months a year. Emma refused to let him quit everything in a flash but helped him get a nice place uptown Lima. The city opened a small Singing and Dancing Academy which he directed and ran thanks to the financial security he had gained after fifteen years of successfully performing at Broadway. It had been so long since Will had felt the fulfilled that came with doing something like that. Inspiring young souls never felt so right.

The autumn waft swept the parched leaves gathering them on the streets corners. Everything was brightly colored and fresh. Oddly fresh.

"Would you hand me the phone, Em? It´s in the living room… next to the-", he asked when a melody reached his ears one windy evening while making dinner. Nights were mostly spent at her place, for some reason it felt more like home than his new apartment.

"Got it", her voice came from the other room.

"Tell me who is it, would you?"

She looked at the brightened screen and her heart skipped a beat. George Sanderson. She had trouble speaking. _George? Where does he know George from_? She hadn´t introduced them yet.

"So…?" he asked with a humorous tone seeing her walking back in the kitchen extremely quiet.

"It´s…" she breathed, "Will, why is George calling you?"

The spoon produced an annoying sound when he accidentally dropped it. Silence and then he turned around and played ignorant. "Who?"

"It was you, wasn´t it?"

"I don´t know what you´re talking about, Em", he was lying; blush creeping up his neck and cheeks.

"You do. It was you", it was like all the pieces fell together, "You did it"

"Emma, I-"

"Will…" she covered her mouth to stiff a sob.

"Em, don´t cry", he rushed to her, "Please don't cry"

Her lips pursed, trying not to start whimpering, "Why didn´t you tell me? Yo-you never said a word…"

"I didn´t want to", gently he took her hands in his.

"You did it…" her lips pursed, a signal of the impending tears, "Will…"

"Emma, no, no… Don´t cry", his arms enveloped her body and she sobbed on his chest.

"It was you", she kept saying. After all this time, he had kept silent; and Emma locked eyes with him, cheeks wet, eyes redden, "Will…", she kissed him multiple times on his lips and then lengthily, so very softly, "W-why didn´t you tell me? Will you-"

"It doesn´t matter… the center´s working"

"It does. It does matter. It was you…" she took his lips with hers again, and he tasted the renewed tears while holding her tightly, "Oh, when I thought I couldn´t love you more…"

"What?" gently, he pulled away and cupped her face on his hands, "You love me?"

"Yes", there was kindness in her voice, "I loved you and now…" words were not enough, "Will, I'm so in love with you"

"You love me?"

"Yes", she smiled shyly and sniffed but Will´s grin only grew wider.

"You love me…"

"Yes", she giggled, "I do". She had never said it, quite a stupid thing because she was. Deeply and helplessly in love with him. "Will… what you did… You´ve given people a place to go; I don´t know if you realize that, but you´ve made people so happy. Y-you´ve made me so happy…"

"I made you happy?" It was all he ever wanted to do. She nodded, "I love you"

"I know", she whispered against his mouth, "I love you. I love you. I love you"

Xxx

Will couldn´t point the moment lovemaking had became an art. It felt like painting on her body with sounds and whispers. Passionate and devotedly.

For Emma, the intensity of the moment was always overwhelming. Every inch of her body would radiate it; her insides, her skin, the outline where their bodies met, his closeness. It come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They´d be one and two different individuals. Will would give and Emma would take, and she´d offer and he´d made it his. She´d whine his name, unable to express the waves of satisfaction, union and fragmentation. One, two, nothing and so much.

She´d arch and hold him tighter, and he´d buried himself in the crook of her neck, feeling himself and her close. They´d come together in one strong clamor of ecstasy and abandonment.

That night, after one last kiss on her belly, he fell by its side as Emma transferred her weight to her elbow; his curls were soft under her fingers, humming a slow melody. Her bare chest facing him still warm after lovemaking.

He rolled his head back to look at her; the tangled curls falling down her shoulders, the slightly smeared make up, the serene expression.

"You´re an angel", he spoke softly against her sternum before caressing it with his lips, "I don´t know if I´ve ever seen something more beautiful than you". He adored her sighs, the way her chest rose and fell right next to his forehead.

"I love you", she murmured, still all-in. He had been so passionate and she had moved so excitedly on top of him.

"I love you too…" his mouth found the curve of her breast and printed soggy kisses there, her hand never ceasing massaging his skull. His tongue pocked out, and his mouth closed around her nipple; Emma moaned softly when his paddling flesh moistened hers. His palm circled her back, pressing between her shoulder blades, to bring her closer; she let him snake his other arm to her behind, where he traced random patterns.

"Already ready for round two?" she mocked him unequivocally when he hovered over her and smirked while trailing a path down her belly to her lower abdomen.

"Not quite…" his voice came out stifled, she intoxicated him, her smoothness, her perfume, everything about her, "But you are"

Emma leaned forward and breathed out a giggle and bit her lip when his gaze found hers, "I, uhm…"

He loved that coy side of hers, when words proved to be too much and only her eyes showed what she was really thinking.

There was no need for words; her legs welcomed him between them; gentle caresses on his cheeks; slow pats on her hipbones. Then his lips planting soft kisses on her naked body, worship and whispers; hums and unhurried rubs where her thighs joined her hips.

"Will, love", she purred, eyes rolling back.

He scooped her behind and enveloped her lower abdomen, submerging in her, deeply, taking all of her in his mouth and Emma cried and arched below him so much, so abruptly, he smirked against her flesh.

She could even feel his teeth and his tongue, for Heaven´s Sake, running madly across her folds; up and down, speeding up, sucking, nibbling, teasing her. Emma needed him and called his name, loud. But Will hadn´t recuperated from the last round yet; so his fingers did the work, curling inside her, pumping in and pressing on every single inch of heated flesh.

"Holy-", she had to grip the headboard to prevent coming undone right there, but his expert fingers and hot breath between her legs were sending her right to the edge, "Oh God, Will, God…", he wouldn´t let her move; her lower half was securely trapped under his strong arms and Emma moaned, squirmed and trembled, her stomach tightened and so did her insides.

"Come for me, sweetheart", he used his tongue to push her right there, and her walls clamped around him, violently. Her moans filled his ears; tremors and shakes and his palm helped her come down her peak, rubbing slowly the heated nub of nerves.

He traced a wet route up to her flushing face once more, her eyelids still flickering and lip still captured between her teeth.

"Hi", his husky voice caused her to look at him.

"Hi", lips met and her arms brought him to rest on top of her, "Thank you", she smiled.

"Any time", her skin was smooth under his mouth.

"I take your word on that", was her mischievous reply and Will chuckled.

His mouth found hers without trouble; Emma loved the feeling of proximity and he smelled like her. It was the most erotic experience of her life. A little moan escaped her lips and Will pulled slightly away to stare at her, clouded eyes. He smiled; she was aroused.

"This is so…" she couldn´t find a word to express the greatness of the moment.

"I know…" he kissed her once more, "It´s crazy…" it was really. His mind was always envisaging her, every minute of the day; he had been building castles in the air since moving to Lima. Castles with Emma, his Emma; his forever Emma.

"I could kiss you forever", she mumbled against his lips before submerging in him again.

"Don´t ever stop". His tongue was still flavored with her and she took all the time to sop up it, achingly slow and passionately. It was superb. "I love you", was his reiteration when their foreheads rested together; all his weight lied above her little body.

"Me too", her arms loosened around his neck and brought his face to snuggle on her collarbone. "So much"

"Em?" he spoke again after a while, her slender fingers had been moving up and down his spine, lovingly.

"Yes, sweetie?" she sighed, content, still tracing patterns on his shoulder blades.

"I love you", sometimes words seemed so drained.

"Me too"

"Can I ask you something?" he he had been chewing something for some time now; for quite some time, actually.

"Anything"

"Will you marry me?"

"W-what?" she pulled away to face him, eyes widened, mouth dry.

_You ruined it, great job_. "I, erm-"

"Did you just ask me to marry you?"

"Maybe?" he felt suddenly shy, like back in High School. Would she freak out? Would she laugh? He couldn't handle either reaction.

"Yes"

"What?"

"Yes. I´ll marry you", her eyes steamed up with tears. "Yes"

His laughter revealed joy and Will kissed her passionately. Two bodies so close, two souls even closer. Nervous giggles, tears threatening to run down his cheeks, "You´ll marry me"

Emma nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes…"

They stared, long. For minutes, muted minutes; her mouth dried his tears, his did the same with hers.

Their eyes were watchful; they had always been and never ceased being. Because the reverse of love wasn´t hate; it was indifference. And they both knew too well the other one had never been such thing for each the other. It was now a focused prism, the one they used to see each other, same old heart that was never theirs, a transmuted feeling that had swollen their spirit.

**This is it! I have to say I absolutely loved writing this, so it was sort of hard to end it. I wanna thank ****Becca**** for being awesome and helping me with this… she offered great ideas for chapter 12 and 13 so that "extra something" is hers **

**Thanks a lot for your reviews and lovely pms! **

**Just in case someone wants to leave a prompt, I´m taking them so they´re more than welcome!**

**Until next time!**

**Aggie**


End file.
